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Andrew Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart speaking at CPAC on February 10, 2012.
Born(1969-02-01)February 1, 1969
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedMarch 1, 2012(2012-03-01) (aged 43)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materTulane University (B.A.)
Occupation(s)Writer, Columnist, Publisher
Spouse(s)Susannah Bean (m. 1997–2012); 4 children

Andrew Breitbart (pronounced /ˈbraɪtbɑrt/ (February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American publisher, commentator for The Washington Times, author, and occasional guest commentator on various news programs, who served as an editor for the Drudge Report website. He was a researcher for Arianna Huffington, and helped launch her web publication The Huffington Post.

He ran his own news aggregation site, Breitbart.com, and five other websites: Breitbart.tv, Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism, and Big Peace. He played key roles in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal, the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, and the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.

Early life

Breitbart was the adopted son of Gerald and Arlene Breitbart, a restaurant owner and banker respectively, and grew up in upscale Brentwood, Los Angeles. He was raised Jewish (his adoptive mother had converted to Judaism when marrying his adoptive father). He had explained that his birth certificate indicated his biological father was a folk singer. He was ethnically Irish by birth, and his adopted sister is Hispanic.

While in high school, Breitbart was a pizza delivery driver; he sometimes delivered to celebrities such as Judge Reinhold. He earned a B.A. in American studies from Tulane University in 1991, graduating with "no sense of future whatsoever". His early jobs included a stint at cable channel E! Entertainment Television, working for the company's online magazine, and some time in film production.

Previously left-leaning in his politics, Breitbart changed his political views after experiencing an "epiphany" during the late 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas who was charged with sexual harassment; Breitbart later described himself as "a Reagan conservative" with libertarian sympathies.

Listening to "AM professors" like Rush Limbaugh helped Brietbart refine his political and philosophical positions, igniting an interest in learning that he had suppressed due to his distaste for the "nihilistic musings of dead critical theorists" that had dominated his studies at Tulane. In this era Breitbart also read Camille Paglia's book Sexual Personae (1990), a massive survey of Western art, literature and culture from ancient Egypt to the 20th Century, which, he wrote, "made me realize how little I really had learned in college."

Public life

Authorship, research and reporting

In 1995 Breitbart saw the Drudge Report and was so impressed that he emailed Matt Drudge. Breitbart said, "I thought what he was doing was by far the coolest thing on the Internet. And I still do." Breitbart described himself as "Matt Drudge's bitch" and selected and posted links to other news wire sources. Later Matt Drudge introduced him to Arianna Huffington (when she was still a Republican) and Breitbart subsequently assisted her in creating her website.

Breitbart's work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, National Review Online and the Weekly Standard Online, among others. He wrote a weekly column for The Washington Times, which also appeared at Real Clear Politics. Breitbart also co-wrote the book Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon with Mark Ebner, a book that is highly critical of U.S. celebrity culture. On January 19, 2011, the conservative gay rights group GOProud announced Breitbart had joined its Advisory Council.

In April 2011 Grand Central Publishing released Breitbart's book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World, in which he discussed his own political evolution and the part he took in the rise of new media, most notably at the Drudge Report and The Huffington Post.

In June 2011 Breitbart was involved in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal when his websites broke the story that Weiner was sending women revealing photographs of himself.

Commentaries

Breitbart appeared as a commentator on Real Time with Bill Maher and Dennis Miller. In 2004 he was a guest commentator on Fox News Channel's morning show and frequently appeared as a guest panelist on Fox News's late night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. Breitbart also appeared as a commentator in the 2004 documentary Michael Moore Hates America.

On October 22, 2009, Breitbart appeared on the C-SPAN program Washington Journal. He gave his opinions on the mainstream media, Hollywood, the Obama Administration and his personal political views, having heated debates with several callers.

In the hours immediately following Senator Ted Kennedy's death, Breitbart called Kennedy a "villain", a "duplicitous bastard", a "prick" and "a special pile of human excrement".

In February 2010 Breitbart received the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. During his acceptance speech, he responded directly to accusations by New York Times reporter Kate Zernike that Jason Mattera, a young conservative activist, had been using "racial tones" in his allusions to President Barack Obama, and had spoken in a "Chris Rock voice". From the podium, Breitbart called Zernike "a despicable human being" for having made such allegations about Mattera's New York accent. At the same conference, Breitbart was also filmed saying to journalist Max Blumenthal that he found him to be "a jerk", and "a despicable human being" due to a blog entry posted by Blumenthal.

Activism

Main article: Tea party movement

Breitbart often appeared as a speaker at Tea Party movement events across the U.S. For example, Breitbart was a keynote speaker at the first National Tea Party Convention at Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville on February 6, 2010. Breitbart later involved himself in a controversy over homophobic and alleged racial slurs being used at a March 20, 2010, rally at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., by asserting that slurs were never used, and that "It was a set-up" by Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party. Breitbart offered to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund "for any audio/video footage of the N-word being hurled", claiming that the several Congressmen made it up. Breitbart insisted Congressman John Lewis and several other witnesses were forced to lie, concluding that "Nancy Pelosi did a great disservice to a great civil rights icon by thrusting him out there to perform this mischievous task. His reputation is now on the line as a result of her desperation to take down the Tea Party movement."

Websites

I'm committed to the destruction of the old media guard. And it's a very good business model.

Andrew Breitbart, quoted by the Associated Press, August 3, 2010

Breitbart launched a number of websites, including Breitbart.com, BigHollywood.com, BigGovernment.com, BigJournalism.com, and BigPeace.com.

Breitbart launched his first website as a news site; it is sometimes linked to by the Drudge Report and other websites. It has wire stories from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Fox News, PR Newswire, and U.S. Newswire, as well as direct links to a number of major international newspapers. Its Blog & "Network" links tend to run to the right within the U.S. political spectrum (e.g., National Review and Townhall.com). The site also has a search engine powered by Lingospot and a finance channel powered by FinancialContent. In 2007, Breitbart launched a video blog, Breitbart.tv.

In 2008 Breitbart launched the website "Big Hollywood," a "group blog" driven by some who work within Los Angeles, with contributions from a variety of writers, including politically conservative entertainment-industry professionals. The site was an outgrowth of the Breitbart's Washington Times "Big Hollywood" column included issues conservatives faced working in Hollywood. In 2009, the site used audio from a secretly recorded conference call to accuse the National Endowment of the Arts of encouraging artists to create work in support of Barack Obama's domestic policy agenda.

Breitbart launched BigGovernment.com on September 10, 2009. He hired Mike Flynn, a former government affairs specialist at Reason Foundation, as Editor-in-Chief of Big Government. The site premiered with hidden camera video footage taken by Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now offices in various cities, attracting nationwide attention resulting in the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy.

In January 2010, Breitbart launched Big Journalism. He told Mediaite: "Our goal at Big Journalism is to hold the mainstream media's feet to the fire. There are a lot of stories that they simply don't cover, either because it doesn't fit their world view, or because they're literally innocent of any knowledge that the story even exists, or because they are a dying organization, short-staffed, and thus can't cover stuff like they did before." Big Journalism was edited by Michael A. Walsh, a former journalism professor and Time magazine music critic. It is now currently edited by Dana Loesch. The site has a fictional contributor named "Retracto, the Correction Alpaca" who posts items requesting corrections from the traditional media.

BigPeace.com debuted July 4, 2010. The site covers topics such as international issues and foreign policy, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism, Islamic extremism, espionage, border security, and energy issues.

Controversies

Anthony Weiner

Main article: Anthony Weiner sexting scandal

On May 28, 2011, Breitbart posted a sexually explicit photo on his BigJournalism website of New York Representative Anthony Weiner obtained through Weiner's Twitter account. Weiner initially denied that he had sent a 21-year-old female college student the link to the photograph, but after questions developed, he admitted to inappropriate online relationships. On June 6, 2011, Breitbart reported other photos Weiner had sent, including one that was sexually graphic. On June 8, 2011, the sexually graphic photo was leaked after Breitbart participated in a radio interview with hosts Opie and Anthony, though Breitbart stated that the photo was published without his permission. Weiner subsequently resigned from his congressional seat on June 21, 2011.

Shirley Sherrod

Main article: Resignation of Shirley Sherrod

In July 2010 Breitbart was accused of smearing USDA official Shirley Sherrod with the viral video "Proof NAACP Awards Racism". Breitbart's video showed Sherrod speaking at a NAACP fundraising dinner in March 2010 admitting to a racial reluctance to help a white farmer get government aid. The NAACP condemned Sherrod video comments and approved her July 19 dismissal from government service. After being criticized for presenting Sherrod out of context, Breitbart posted the full 40-minute video of the speech. In the full video Sherrod said the reluctance to help a white man was wrong, and she had ended up assisting him. Following the release of the full video, the NAACP also reversed their rebuke of Sherrod,, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized and offered Sherrod a new government position. In 2011, Sherrod sued Breitbart for defamation, Breibart said that the point of the piece was not to target Sherrod, but said the NAACP audience's reception of the parts of the speech demonstrated the same racism the NAACP's President had accused The Tea Party of harboring.

ACORN undercover videos

Main article: ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy

Breitbart was also involved in the 2009 ACORN video controversy. Hannah Giles posed as a prostitute seeking assistance while James O'Keefe portrayed her boyfriend, and clandestinely videotaped meetings with ACORN staff. Subsequent criminal investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the California Attorney General found the videos were heavily edited in an attempt to make ACORN's responses "appear more sinister", and contributed to the group's demise.

GOProud

Breitbart was also embroiled in a controversy within the conservative movement related to the participation of gay group GOProud in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual conference held in Washington, D.C., by the American Conservative Union. In 2011 he was the primary host of a party that served to "welcome" the "homocons" to the convention (though it was the second year they had been participants). This flew in the face of a boycott staged by a few social conservative groups that were offended by the inclusion of GOProud within the conservative fold. Writer, producer, and publisher Roger L. Simon referred to the group as a "game-changer" for the Republican party, and asserted that it represented a turning point in the appeal that the conservative movement might hold for young people. Breitbart was on the Advisory Board of GOProud until he stepped down in the wake of the group's inadvertent outing of a senior Rick Perry aide.

Confrontation with Occupy protesters at CPAC 2012

In February 2012 a YouTube video showed Breitbart yelling at Occupy D.C. protesters outside a Washington D.C. hotel hosting a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The video showed security escorting Breitbart back to the hotel while he told the protestors to "behave yourself", and alluding to reported assaults of women at Occupy encampments, he repeatedly yelled "stop raping people" and called the protestors "filthy, filthy, raping, murdering freaks!”. David Carr said with the incident Briebart had caused his last "viral storm on the Web".

Personal life

Breitbart was married to Susannah Bean, the daughter of actor Orson Bean, and had four children.

Death

On March 1, 2012, Breitbart died at the UCLA Medical Center after he collapsed while walking in Brentwood. He was 43 years old. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office showed that he had cardiomegaly and died of heart failure. The toxicology report showed "No prescription or illicit drugs were detected. The blood alcohol was .04%. No significant trauma was present and foul play is not suspected." Personal friend of Breitbart, Bill Whittle, had said that Breitbart had a "serious heart attack" just months before his passing.

In remembrance, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich praised Breitbart. Santorum called Breitbart's passing "a huge loss" that strongly affected him, while Romney said Breitbart was a "fearless conservative", and Gingrich called him "the most innovative pioneer in conservative activist social media in America...."

His funeral was held March 6, 2012, at a Jewish cemetery in West Los Angeles. Attendees included his father-in-law Orson Bean, Matt Drudge, Herman Cain, Thaddeus McCotter, Greg Gutfeld, Ed Morrissey, Guy Benson, and Rob Long.

Authored books

References

  1. ^ Andrew Breitbart, Breitbart.com Publisher C-SPAN, October 22, 2009. Breitbart referred to the "Democrat-media complex" several times...
  2. Chideya, Farai. "Semper Fi Media", National Public Radio, September 14, 2007. Accessed 2011-06-10. "The other person on the panel was Andrew Breitbart, who runs Breitbart.com, a news aggregator.
  3. ^ "Breitbart.com has Drudge to thank for its success". Cnet news. 2005. Retrieved July 29, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "Big Breitbart: Andrew Breitbart is messing with you. – By Christopher Beam – Slate Magazine". slate.com. Archived from the original on March 22 2010. Retrieved March 17, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Taranto, James (October 16, 2009). "The Weekend Interview With Andrew Breitbart: Taking On the 'Democrat-Media Complex' – WSJ.com". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 20 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. Righteous Indignation, page 17
  7. McCain, Robert Stacy (May 29, 2007). "'News addict' gets his fix". The Washington Times. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  8. Righteous Indignation, p. 36
  9. Righteous Indignation, p. 36
  10. "Lists: What's Your Source for That? Where Andrew Breitbart gets his information". ReasonOnline.com. Archived from the original on September 19 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon—The Case Against Celebrity, John Wiley & Sons
  12. "Conservative Media Mogul Andrew Breitbart to Join GOProud's Advisory Council". Goproud.org. January 21, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  13. Daly, Corbett D. "Conservative website posts private pictures of Anthony Weiner". CBS News. June 6, 2011
  14. "National Review Online". nationalreview.com. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  15. "Not all Kennedy critics hold fire". Archived from the original on August 27 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. "Compromise: what Pennsylvania lawmakers could learn from Ted Kennedy" (editorial), The Patriot-News (Pennsylvania), August 28, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  17. "Opinion: Ted Kennedy, the liberal adversary to the conservative movement". digitaljournal.com. Archived from the original on October 03 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. Benson, Guy. The New York Times Owes Jason Mattera an Apology, Big Journalism, February 19, 2010.
  19. "Max Blumenthal confronted by Andrew Breitbart and Larry O'Connor/Stage right at CPAC 10". YouTube. February 20, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  20. Breitbart Keynote Part 1 of 4, Nashville, February 2010 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
  21. Breitbart, Andrew (April 2, 2010). "Barack Obama's Helter-Skelter, Insane Clown Posse, Alinsky Plans to 'Deconstruct' America". Big Journalism.
  22. Alexander, Andrew (April 11, 2010). "Allegations of spitting and slurs at Capitol protest merit more reporting". Washington Post. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  23. Blood, Michael R. (August 3, 2010). "Breitbart: Enemy of the left with a laptop". Associated Press.
  24. "Breitbart.com". Breitbart.com. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  25. "Big Hollywood". Bighollywood.breitbart.com. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  26. "Big Government". Big Government. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  27. "Andrew Breitbart". Big Journalism. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  28. "Big Peace". Big Peace. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  29. Owen, Rob. The next wave: Ex-WTAE anchor Scott Baker changes channel to run Web news site, Post-Gazette
  30. "Hollywood Infidel". The New York Observer. March 16, 2007. Archived from the original on October 02 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. "'The National Endowment for the Art of Persuasion". Big Hollywood. August 25, 2009.
  32. "'Yosi Sergant Resigns". ABC News. September 24, 2009.
  33. "New Political Blog 'Big Government' Launches Tomorrow". http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/. Retrieved June 14, 2009. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  34. "Introducing Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, Edited by Mike Flynn", Nick Gillespie, reason.com, September 10, 2009
  35. Author page for Mike Flynn Editor-in-Chief of Big Government
  36. ^ Exclusive Interview: Andrew Breitbart Announces Launch of New "Big" Sites Colby Hall, Mediaite, December 10, 2009
  37. Author page for "Retracto, the Correction Alpaca" at Big Journalism
  38. Muñoz-Temple, Amanda (June 16, 2011). "The Man Behind Weiner's Resignation". National Journal. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  39. Bond, Paul (June 9, 2011). "Anthony Weiner's Genitalia Photo Puts Sirius XM in Sticky Situation (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  40. Breitbart, Andrew (July 19, 2010). "Video Proof: The NAACP Awards Racism–2010". Big Government.
  41. ^ "Anatomy of a Smear Campaign". CNN. July 22, 2010.
  42. ^ "NAACP 'snookered' over video of former USDA employee". CNN. July 21, 2010.
  43. Wheaton, Sarah (July 20, 2010). "N.A.A.C.P. Backtracks on Official Accused of Bias". The New York Times.
  44. Jalonick, Mary Clare; Evans, Ben (July 22, 2010). "Ag secretary offers Sherrod 'unique' position". Associated Press.
  45. Zeleny, Jeff (February 13, 2011). "At Gathering, Ron Paul Is No. 1 for 2012". The New York Times. pp. A21. Retrieved February 14, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  46. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/breitbart_i_was_targeting_the_naacp_honest.php
  47. "» Contributors". Big Government. March 24, 2005. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  48. "Hannah Giles – Conservative Columnist and Political Commentator". Townhall.com. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  49. Taylor, Andrew (September 14, 2009). "Senate votes to deny funds to ACORN". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  50. Rovzar, Chris (March 2, 2010). "Damaging Brooklyn ACORN Sting Video Ruled 'Heavily Edited,' No Charges to Be Filed". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on March 07 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  51. "REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON THE ACTIVITIES OF ACORN" (PDF). April 1, 2010.
  52. An Independent Governance Assessment of ACORN, December 7, 2009
  53. "House Votes to Strip Funding for ACORN". Fox News. September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  54. Lorber, Janie (December 11, 2009). "House Ban on Acorn Grants Is Ruled Unconstitutional". The New York Times. p. A12. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
  55. Tartar, Andre. "Andrew Breitbart Steps Down From GOProud Board After it Outs Perry Advisor". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
  56. Christopher R. Barron. "Conservative Media Mogul Andrew Breitbart to Join GOProud's Advisory Council". goproud.org. January 19, 2011
  57. Carr, David (April 13, 2012). "The Life and Death of Andrew Breitbart". The New York Times.
  58. Sources that describe the confrontation with Occupy protesters at CPAC 2012:
  59. Orson Bean (2005). "Sgt. Curtis Massey Was 41". Cnet news. Retrieved July 29, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  60. Ng, Christina (March 1, 2012). "Publisher and Author Andrew Breitbart Dead".
  61. ^ Breitbart.com (April 20, 2012). "Coroner: Breitbart Died of Heart Failure".
  62. IN MEMORIAM, ANDREW BREITBART: PJTV Remembers a True Patriot and Friend. PJ Media. Event occurs at 1:48. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  63. ^ "Limbaugh and the GOP: The media stars and politics". Associated Press. March 6, 2012. p. 3. Retrieved March 6, 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  64. [[CBS News]], March 1. 2012. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  65. Lileks, James; Long, Rob; Robinson, Peter (March 8, 2012). (Interview). Interviewed by James Lileks. Retrieved March 13, 2012. {{cite interview}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  66. Miller, Dennis (March 7, 2012). "The Dennis Miller Show" (Interview). Interviewed by Dennis Miller. Retrieved March 13, 2012. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  67. Hewitt, Hugh; O’Connor, Larry; Morrissey, Ed; Benson, Guy (March 6, 2012). "The Hugh Hewitt Show" (Interview). Interviewed by Hugh Hewitt. Retrieved March 13, 2012. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)

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