Business Insider Takes Down Column Defending Scarlett Johansson Transgender Casting

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

Online news site Business Insider removed an article from a conservative writer that defended non-transgender actors and actresses playing the roles of transgender characters in movies after the site’s staff complained internally, according to the Daily Beast.

In the article, which has been rescued from Business Insider by third-party archives, conservative columnist Daniella Greenbaum criticized the “social justice warrior mob” for their campaign against Hollywood star Scarlet Johansson, who is set to play the role of a transgender man in the upcoming movie Rub and Tug. 

Business Insider staffers told the Daily Beast that many employees of the mainstream online publication were “offended” by the article, which criticized the arguments of transgender activists. In response to this internal pressure, Business Insider took down the column from its website, adding a note claiming “upon further review, we decided it did not meet our editorial standards.”

The Daily Beast also obtained an email from Business Insider’s management that was sent out to staff after the column was taken down, which promised that “culturally sensitive columns, analysis, and opinion pieces” would now face an additional review by executive editors prior to publication.

Greenbaum, who said she stands by her column despite its removal from Business Insider, is an avowed NeverTrump conservative. Last year, she authored a column drawing parallels between Trump and the Nazi leader Hermann Göring, and stating that “every speech and tweet” from the president “drips with racist ideology and sentiment.”

The removal of her column by Business Insider is a further sign of radicalization on the left, which is increasingly unable to tolerate the opinions of the mildest, most milquetoast, anti-Trump conservatives. The firing of NeverTrump columnist Kevin Williamson from the Atlantic earlier this year is another example, as is the attempt by left-wing Google employees to have a colleague punished for sharing a National Review article by David French, (the same David French who was almost the NeverTrump presidential contender in 2016).

The message is clear: opposing Trump as a “principled conservative” won’t win you any favors with the left. We’re all Göring in their eyes.

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. You can follow him on TwitterGab.ai and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to allumbokhari@protonmail.com.

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