Ann Telnaes was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1960. She was graduated from Reno High School in Reno, Nevada in 1979.[7] She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1973 and a former citizen of Norway.[8]
In 2003, while the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was deciding the fate of same-sex marriage Telnaes created an editorial cartoon criticizing the historical imbalance of gender roles in the United States by which "the traditional view of marriage between a man and a woman has resulted in second class citizenship for many people in America for a long time".[11]
Telnaes's 2025 cartoon depicting billionaires and Mickey Mouse performing obeisance before the president-elect that was rejected by the Post opinion editor
Telnaes began working for The Washington Post in 2008.[12] In 2015, a Telnaes cartoon was removed by the Washington Post from the newspaper's website. The cartoon had depicted Ted Cruz as an organ grinder with two monkeys. Telnaes defended her cartoon by tweeting, "Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad—don't start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well."[13]
In January 2025, Telnaes resigned from The Washington Post after her cartoon lampooning powerful media and technology billionaires and a corporation mascot performing obeisance before president-elect Donald Trump was rejected by opinions editor David Shipley. Included in the sketch were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Post owner Jeff Bezos, Meta/Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg offering bags of money, Los Angeles Times publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong, and a prostrate Disney mascot Mickey Mouse (representing Disney subsidiary ABC News).[14][15][16] Shipley stated that his editorial decision was based on the piece's redundancy with other content that had recently been published by or been approved for publication in the Post.[15] His refusal to publish the cartoon was decried by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists as "craven censorship" and "political cowardice".[17] Telnaes responded to the situation with a post to her online newsletter.[18]
^Telnaes, Ann (January 4, 2025). "Why I'm quitting the Washington Post". Open Windows. Retrieved January 4, 2025. I've worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I've never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now. The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump. ... Over the years I have watched my overseas colleagues risk their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives to expose injustices and hold their countries' leaders accountable. As a member of the Advisory board for the Geneva based Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and a former board member of Cartoonists Rights, I believe that editorial cartoonists are vital for civic debate and have an essential role in journalism.
^ ab"Ann Telnaes". carnegie.org. Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
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