Backlash Against George Will’s Offensive Rape Column Grows As Paper Drops Him

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, one of the largest newspapers in the Midwest, has dropped George Will’s syndicated column, calling the conservative pundit’s recent commentary on sexual assault “offensive and inaccurate” and apologizing for its publication.

In a June 7 column, Will disputed evidence that 1 in 5 women on U.S college campuses experience sexual assault, and claimed that efforts to fight what he called “the supposed campus epidemic of rape” have made victimhood a “coveted status.” The Post-Dispatch called Will’s comments “offensive and inaccurate,” and in a June 18 editorial, it announced it would no longer publish Will’s syndicated column.

As Media Matters has reported, Will’s column has drawn significant criticism from women’s rights activists, writers, and several U.S. senators. Women’s rights group UltraViolet launched a petition drive calling for Will’s ouster from the Washington Post. National Organization for Women President Terry O’Neill agreed, saying “The Washington Post needs to take a break from his column, they need to dump him,” adding that columns like Will’s are “actively harmful for the victims of sexual assault.”

As the backlash against Will’s claims began to heat up, the Washington Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt defended Will in a statement to Media Matters, saying his comments were “well within the bounds of legitimate debate”:

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