Five TED fellows resigned on Wednesday over the organization's decision to name billionaire Bill Ackman as one of its main speakers at an upcoming conference in Vancouver, Canada.
The fellows resigning are led by astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz and filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky.
In a letter addressed to Lily James Olds, who directs the fellows program, and Chris Anderson, the head of TED, the fellows called Ackman a “genocide apologist” for his comments attempting to justify Israel's brutal military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 25,000 Palestinians.
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Ackman was also instrumental in the ousting of Harvard President Claudine Gay, who came under fire after widely panned Congressional testimony last year in which she declined to say whether students who called for Jewish “genocide” would be in violation of the school’s code of conduct.
Shortly after an exchange between Gay and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) went viral in conservative circles, Ackman demanded her resignation—“in disgrace”—and posted an unhinged 4,000 word rant against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education and corporate America.
Since then, Ackman has “defended Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and has cynically weaponised antisemitism in his programme to purge American universities of Pro-Palestinian freedom of speech,” the TED fellows wrote.
They also blamed Ackman for cynically deploying accusations of antisemitism against those who dared to criticize Israel, pointing to an X post penned by the billionaire which read: “Anti-Israel has become antisemitism.”
In their letter, the TED fellows noted that while speakers like Ackman and Bari Weiss had a history of anti-Palestinian speech, no Palestinians were invited on the line up.
“We’ve become increasingly concerned about the fundamental values and moral compass of the organization over the years, but with this year’s speaker selection, it is clear TED has crossed a red line,” they wrote.
Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that five TED fellows resigned.
