The Washington Post dismissed columnist Karen Attiah last week following her public comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to a statement Attiah posted on her Substack page on Monday, September 15, 2025. Attiah indicated she was terminated after speaking out against political violence, racial double standards, and America’s gun policies, noting she referenced Kirk only once in a separate social media post.
The firing occurred in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination on Wednesday, September 11, 2025, while he was delivering a speech at Utah Valley University. Attiah’s dismissal was part of a broader wave of employment actions taken against workers across multiple industries who made public statements about the conservative activist’s death.
A spokesperson for The Washington Post declined to comment to CBS News on personnel matters. The newspaper’s policies and standards state that a Post journalist’s use of social media must not harm the editorial integrity or journalistic reputation of the publication.
Attiah’s termination represents a significant career setback for the journalist, who had been promoted to staff columnist just over four years ago in June 2021. She was tasked with writing on race, international affairs, culture, and human rights for the Post’s Voices Across America initiative. At the time of her promotion, Attiah described the columnist position as a dream she had held for a long time.
The journalist’s career at the Post had been marked by previous controversies involving her social media activity. In June 2020, Attiah faced significant backlash after tweeting that white women were “lucky that we are just calling them Karens and not calling for revenge.” The tweet, which was later deleted, prompted widespread criticism and calls for her termination, though the Post did not take disciplinary action at that time.
Following the 2020 controversy, Attiah shared screenshots of threatening messages she received, including texts warning her to be careful with hate and that revenge only begets revenge. She also received emails containing racial slurs and threats. Attiah attributed the threats to what she characterized as toxic ideas of white masculinity and the notion of protecting white women from Black people.
Despite the earlier controversy, the Post promoted Attiah to columnist in 2021, indicating the newspaper’s confidence in her work. She had previously served as the Post’s founding Global Opinions editor and gained prominence for recruiting journalist Jamal Khashoggi to write for the publication prior to his death. Attiah, who was born in Texas to Ghanaian immigrants, holds degrees from Northwestern University and Columbia University, and studied in Ghana on a Fulbright Scholarship.
The current wave of employment actions extends far beyond media organizations. PHNX Sports fired reporter Gerald Bourguet after his social media posts declined to mourn Kirk’s death. MSNBC terminated analyst Matthew Dowd following on-air comments about the relationship between incendiary speech and violent outcomes. Parent company Comcast criticized Dowd’s remarks as insensitive and inconsistent with fostering civil dialogue.
Other industries have also taken swift action. Middle Tennessee State University dismissed an employee over what it called inappropriate and callous social media comments about Kirk’s murder. Nasdaq fired an employee for policy-violating posts about the shooting. The U.S. Secret Service placed an agent on administrative leave for expressing negative views about Kirk, citing violations of the agency’s code of conduct.
United Airlines confirmed it took action against employees who publicly commented on Kirk’s death, reiterating the company’s zero tolerance policy for political violence or its justification. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy praised United for removing pilots who celebrated the assassination from service and urged their permanent termination, emphasizing concerns about public safety and trust.
Legal experts note that private employers generally have broad authority to terminate workers for public statements deemed harmful to company reputation or workplace policy. Workplace attorney Marjorie Mesidor explained that private companies can fire employees for public comments, even political ones, if those comments are viewed as potentially damaging to business operations or reputation. Employment protection for political speech is limited in the private sector, with most workers subject to at-will employment terms.
