Coming shortly after the scandal caused by New Yorker contributor Jeffrey Toobin when he exposed himself during a Zoom conference, now another of the magazine’s veteran contributors, cartoonist Danny Shanahan, has been arrested for child porn charges, making him the latest contributor to the comics and cartooning world now facing serious charges of illegal live action possessions. The primary news about Shanahan was already reported by Bleeding Fool here, and the New York Daily News has some extra notes I thought would be worth pointing out:
Four months later, his son Render Stetson-Shanahan was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for stabbing his roommate to death inside their Queens apartment.
It’s clear there were a lot of problems prevalent in Shanahan’s family, if his son was that demented to cause tragedy for the poor woman who fell victim to his crime.
Meanwhile, The New York Post says the magazine has suspended Shanahan’s contract:
The New Yorker on Thursday said it had suspended the contract of famed freelance cartoonist Danny Shanahan, following his arrest on child pornography charges.
The 64-year-old Rhinebeck resident — who began contributing cartoons to the magazine in 1988 — was charged on Wednesday with possession of a sexual performance by a child, a class E felony, state police said.
“The accusations against Danny Shanahan are deeply disturbing,” a New Yorker spokesperson said in a statement.
“We have suspended his freelance contract while the Dutchess County District Attorney’s office proceeds with its investigation.”
This is not going to look good for the magazine when they have such alarming scandals occurring with their contributors. We’ve come a long way since the days of better cartoonists like James Thurber. If the New Yorker is planning any new cartoon archive books, they won’t be able to reprint Shanahan’s illustrations now without making it look like they’re trying to profit off of a shoddy cartoonist who committed a serious offense. I haven’t read much of the weekly magazine in years, and this ghastly crime by Shanahan is enough to make me decide to stop altogether.
Originally published here.
