Supporting a leftist group that advocates defunding the police apparently wasn’t a red flag for liberal outlet Inside Philanthropy’s (IP) “Philanthropist of the Year” award.
At least, that’s the message that IP sent when they named Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s liberal billionaire ex-wife MacKenzie Scott their 2020 philanthropy champion.
IP praised Scott, stating that “[i]n her debut as a mega-donor, Scott moved about $6 billion, distributed to a combination of advocacy and organizing groups working in areas like race, gender and climate.” MacKenzie had announced earlier last year that she had transferred “nearly $1.7 billion to 116 organizations” linked to social justice causes “since first publicly discussing her giving intentions in May 2019.” Part of that massive amount included $586,700,000 allocated to organizations promoting so-called “Racial Equity.” One of the recipients Scott listed was the radical leftist, anti-police organization Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). One webpage for that group’s website is headlined, “THE TIME HAS COME TO DEFUND THE POLICE.”
According to the webpage, “In just a few weeks, the organizations and leaders of the Movement for Black Lives have worked as part of this protest movement to accomplish what many thought was impossible. Now, cities across the country are considering proposals to defund the police.” Scott apparently has no problem backing this kind of a group with her cash, and IP appears to have no issue with celebrating a billionaire connected to such an anarchic cause.
But guess what. When the IP Philanthropy Awards (IPPYs) were announced on December 30 showing MacKenzie Scott as the "Philanthropist of the Year," despite her ties to a radical anti-police organization, the Big Three evening newscasts blacked out the news. Specifically, ABC's World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News ignored the story altogether.
Influence Watch described the radical leftist causes M4BL supports, in addition to its links to the radical Marxist movement Black Lives Matter (BLM). BLM activists sparked waves of violent riots across the country following the murder of George Floyd:
Movement for Black Lives (MBL) is a coalition of more than 50 left-of-center racial-advocacy organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. Along with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the MBL serves as a unifying umbrella organization to coordinate BLM activism and move towards concrete policy goals, including racial reparations, government welfare programs specifically for black Americans, ‘radical’ wealth redistribution, and an overhaul of the criminal justice system.
Us magazine reported last year that M4BL had authored an open letter signed by A-List celebrities like John Legend, Natalie Portman and Lizzo, which called for money to be pulled out of police forces across the country.
On July 30, 2020, IP celebrated Scott for being able to support radical causes:
It’s not just the breadth of Scott’s agenda and the huge sums involved that are striking. It’s how she’s giving away her fortune, with an approach that channels a number of recent critiques regarding how philanthropy needs to change, and that demonstrates a willingness to back groups that most billionaire donors won’t touch.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Inside Philanthropy founder David Callahan at davidc@insidephilanthropy.com and demand the outlet stop promoting billionaires connected to Marxist causes.
MRC Culture Staff Writer Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
