Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and two of his top lieutenants skipped a film screening about the paper’s legendary publisher Katharine Graham, according to a report.
Will Lewis, the current publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, and executive editor Matt Murray were conspicuously absent from the premiere of “Becoming Katharine Graham” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on Sunday evening, the New York Times reported.
Bezos was also not there — instead opting to attend the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment, but a source close to the situation told the New York Post that both Murray and Lewis informed the organizers that they would not be able to attend.
Murray had missed work last week due to a bout with the flu, sources told the New York Post.
Those that did attend the star-studded event included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; Carlyle Group boss David Rubenstein; and journalists Andrea Mitchell, Judy Woodruff and Kaitlan Collins.
Graham, who died in 2001, led the Washington Post from 1963 to 1991. During that period, the newspaper evolved from a local outlet to one that wielded influence nationally following the reporting on the Watergate scandal as well as the publication of the Pentagon Papers.
The no-shows by the paper’s leadership were considered noteworthy given that the newspaper has been in a state of upheaval in recent months — triggered in large part by editorial changes made by Bezos.
The Amazon mogul, who bought the Washington Post from the Graham family in 2013 for $250 million in cash, announced last week that the newspaper’s opinions section would be devoted to advocating for “personal liberties” and “free markets.”
The move prompted the resignation of David Shipley, the newspaper’s opinion editor. It was reported that more than 75,000 readers canceled their subscriptions.
Bezos also blocked his editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Kamala Harris, the former vice president and the Democratic nominee, just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
The move prompted tens of thousands of readers to cancel their subscriptions.
Bezos’s decision to hire Lewis as publisher was also met with consternation from newsroom employees.
Upon taking over as publisher in June of last year, Lewis named Murray as executive editor, replacing Sally Buzbee.
Lewis and Murray were both top executives at the Wall Street Journal before they were brought to the Washington Post by Bezos. The Journal is The New York Post’s sister publication.
The abrupt transition from Buzbee to Murray sparked unrest among employees, particularly due to the lack of a formal search process and the perception that internal candidates were overlooked.
