Fired columnist rehired as right’s Charlie Kirk campaign collapses

Karen Attiah's firing by the Washington Post sparked a backlash the newspaper has paid for ever since

Arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa rejected the Post's "gross misconduct" claim, ordering Karen Attiah's reinstatement with full back pay.

The ruling, made public by the Democracy Defenders Fund on Monday, comes as the Post's opinion section faces scrutiny following a push by owner Jeff Bezos to focus on personal liberties.

Karen Attiah wrote on social media after the right-wing influencer's assassination that she would not display sadness and shared the activist's past racist comments about Black women.

WASHINGTON: The Washington Post was ordered on Monday (Aug 24) to reinstate columnist Karen Attiah, who was fired over social media posts she wrote in the aftermath of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk's assassination.Kirk was shot dead in September on a Utah college campus, sparking a wave of grief among conservative

Karen Attiah was sacked after posting on microblogging site Bluesky about ‘white men who espouse hatred and violence’

Karen Attiah had lost her role after social media posts she made following the death of the controversial right-wing figure.

Karen Attiah had lost her role after social media posts she made following the death of the controversial right-wing figure.

Karen Attiah was fired for posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination that the Post said violated its social media policy.

An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate a Black opinion writer fired over social media posts about violent white men following last year's killing of Charlie Kirk.

Arbitrator orders newspaper to award Attiah full back pay and lost benefits

The ruling said the newspaper did not have sufficient cause to terminate Karen Attiah, who at the time was the last Black full-time member of the Post's opinion desk.

The Washington Post has been ordered to reinstate Karen Attiah, the opinion page columnist the media company let go last year after she criticized Charlie Kirk after his fatal shooting.

An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate a Black opinion writer fired over social media posts about violent white men following last year’s killing of Charlie Kirk.

In a written decision Thursday, arbitrator Sarah Miller Espinosa said the WaPo “did not have good and sufficient cause” to fire Attiah and “violated” its labor agreement with the controversial columnist.

The Washington Post has been ordered to reinstate an opinion columnist after she was fired regarding fabricated online posts about Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in the aftermath of his death.

Arbitrator determined the Post improperly fired Karen Attiah, a union-protected employee, over social media posts An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire the high-profile opinion columnist Karen Attiah, abruptly fired by the news organization last September over comments she made on social m

An arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to reinstate a Black opinion writer fired over social media posts about violent white men following last year’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk

Washington Post ordered to reinstate Black opinion writer fired after Charlie Kirk posts  AP News

August 24, 2026 11:28 AM ET The Washington Post will be forced to reinstate a columnist fired for a series of distasteful social media posts made following Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Karen Attiah categorized Kirk as a “white [man] who espouse hatred and violence,” in the immediate aftermath of his assassination.Near

Every nation remembers the day when it declared itself free. For Ghana, that day is 6 March 1957, the day when the national flag bearing the Black Star was raised over Accra for the first time, and Kwame Nkrumah declared that Africa would no longer ask for freedom but would take it.

The Washington Post has been ordered to reinstate columnist Karen Attiah after being fired for Bluesky posts about Charlie Kirk's assassination.

Columnist Karen Attiah was wrongly fired by Jeff Bezos' The Washington Post, an arbitrator said. Julia Reinhart/Getty Images; Chesnot/Getty Images The Washington Post must rehire fired columnist Karen Attiah, an independent arbitrator said. Attiah was dismissed after comments she made in the wake of conservative activ

Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images/Abdul Saboor via Reuters The Washington Post has been ordered to rehire a writer who was fired over social media posts she made in the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk. Sarah Miller Espinosa, a private arbitrator, ruled that the outlet, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Be

Karen Attiah was fired after posting about ‘white men who espouse hatred and violence’ on the day Charlie Kirk was killed

Attiah's termination letter said her posts about Kirk had harmed “the integrity” of the organisation.

A private arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to rehire opinion columnist Karen Attiah—who was fired from the paper last September after she criticized gun violence and posted a racist quote from right-wing activist Charlie Kirk after his death.   “After the Washington Post fired me last year for speaking the tr

A judge recommended that a Florida teacher suspended for a post celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination receive back pay, in the latest case of drawback from the crackdown on violent rhetoric following the conservative activist’s killing. Division of Administrative Hearings Judge Andrew Manko went beyond reversing Thr