Washington Post columnist fired over Charlie Kirk posts says she won't rejoin paper

A long-time opinion writer says she won’t return to The Washington Post after the paper was ordered to reverse her dismissal over social media posts about the 2025 killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.Karen Attiah said Sunday on her Substack, “The Golden Hour by Karen Attiah,” that she reached a settlement with the Post and plans to move forward with her life and career. “While I remain proud of the victory, I came to the painful realization that returning to The Washington Post meant coming back without the guaranteed freedom and institutional support to do what I loved: use my voice, seek truth, and serve readers,” Attiah wrote.An arbitrator had ordered the newspaper in August to reinstate her after ruling that the Post did not have sufficient cause to fire her. It also ordered the paper to award her full back pay and lost benefits.(Getty Images)The Democracy Defenders Fund and the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which represented Attiah, did not immediately comment on her decision not to return to the paper. When the arbitrator's ruling came down, the two organizations said it marked a landmark moment for press freedom.Kirk, 31, was an ally of President Donald Trump and used his popular podcast to espouse rhetoric many critics felt was racist and divisive. He was shot and killed on Sept. 10, 2025, during an event at Utah Valley University. Attiah posted on social media several times shortly after Kirk’s death, including one post that said, “if anything, the rush to coddle violent white men is self-protective — that we know they are not used to feeling vulnerable and mortal — and will react violently out of fear. And we will all suffer.”In another post, she wrote, “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.”The Post fired Attiah in an email while accusing her of “gross misconduct.”“Your public comments on social media regarding the death of Charlie Kirk violate the Post’s social media policies, harm the integrity of our organization, and potentially endanger the physical safety of our staff,” it wrote.Attiah was among dozens of people from various professions who were fired over comments they made about Kirk's killing. The dimissals raised questions over free speech as Trump vowed retribution for remarks he considered disparaging.