Halifax cartoonist Michael de Adder says his freelance contract with Brunswick News was terminated last week just days after he posted this cartoon to social media. (Twitter/Michael de Adder)
A popular Canadian cartoonist will no longer be appearing in New Brunswick newspapers.
Michael de Adder said his freelance contract with Brunswick News (BNI) was terminated last week.
It came just days after his illustration of U.S. President Donald Trump playing golf next to the bodies of two migrants went viral on social media.
The cartoon referenced an image of a father and daughter from El Salvador who drowned last week while trying to cross into Texas.
“I’ve got to admit, it hurts pretty bad. I’m a New Brunswicker,” said de Adder in a series of posts on Twitter over the weekend.
The highs and lows of cartooning. Today I was just let go from all newspapers in New Brunswick. #editorialcartooning #nbpoli #editorialcartooning
— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) June 28, 2019
BNI said its decision to cancel de Adder’s freelance contract had nothing to do with the cartoon.
“This is a false narrative which has emerged carelessly and recklessly on social media,” said the company in a tweeted statement.
“The decision to bring back reader favourite Greg Perry was made long before this cartoon, and negotiations had been ongoing for weeks.”
BNI denied ever being offered the cartoon but de Adder said every Trump-related cartoon he submitted to the company over the past year had been axed.
“It got to the point where I didn’t submit any Donald Trump cartoons for fear that I might be fired,” he said.
Cartoons from the past two weeks. #Trump pic.twitter.com/azKPtZFuHD
— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) June 30, 2019
The Halifax cartoonist said he drew three viral Trump cartoons in the past two weeks and was let go a day later.
“I loved drawing cartoons for my home province. I’m a proud New Brunswicker. I will survive,” de Adder said.
BNI publishes more than 20 New Brunswick newspapers, including three dailies: the Telegraph-Journal in Saint John, the Times & Transcript in Moncton, and The Daily Gleaner in Fredericton. The company is owned by James K. Irving.
Follow
