Ghanaian-American journalist and columnist Karen Attiah says she has been fired from The Washington Post after her social media commentary on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Attiah, who served as the founding editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section, revealed in a Substack post on Monday, September 15, 2025, that her dismissal was linked to posts criticising political violence, racial double standards, and America’s “apathy toward guns.”
“I was punished for speaking out against political violence,” Attiah wrote, adding that the accusations of “gross misconduct” and endangering colleagues were “charges without evidence.”
Background of the Firing
Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead on September 10, 2025, during an event at Utah Valley University. The attacker, later identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, described himself as a far-left radical.
In her posts on Bluesky, Attiah lamented what she described as America’s tendency to extend “empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence,” without naming Kirk directly. She also referenced a 2023 remark in which Kirk questioned the “brain processing power” of Black women such as Joy Reid and Michelle Obama.
Two Washington Post staffers later told CNN that management flagged her assertion that Kirk “espoused violence” and objected to her quoting his past remarks.
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Reaction from Colleagues
The Washington Post has declined to comment on personnel matters but updated Attiah’s biography on its site to reflect that she “was” a columnist.
The Washington Post Guild, however, issued a strong rebuke of the decision:
“The Washington Post wrongly fired Opinions columnist Karen Attiah over her social media posts. The Post not only flagrantly disregarded standard disciplinary processes, it also undermined its own mandate to be a champion of free speech.”
Turmoil Inside The Post
Attiah’s firing comes amid wider changes in the Post’s Opinions department, part of a shift driven by owner Jeff Bezos, who announced in February 2025 that the paper would refocus its editorial direction on “personal liberties and free markets.”
This has already led to the hiring of a new Opinions editor, Adam O’Neal, and the departure of several well-known columnists. Attiah was the last remaining full-time Black opinion columnist at the paper.
Karen Attiah’s Journey
Born to Ghanaian parents in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Attiah grew up immersed in both American and Ghanaian culture. Her father, a pulmonologist, and her mother, who partly grew up in Nigeria after fleeing civil conflict, met in Ghana before relocating to the United States.
She spent summers in Ghana with family and, in 2008, earned a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Before joining The Washington Post in 2014, Attiah worked as a media consultant for the World Bank’s Africa program and as a freelance reporter for the Associated Press in Curaçao. She became the founding editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section in 2016 and was promoted to columnist in 2021.
Her career gained international attention after the 2018 murder of her colleague Jamal Khashoggi, where her writings on press freedom and human rights resonated worldwide.
