Art Critic Sebastian Smee Laid Off From the Washington Post

Art Critic Sebastian Smee Laid Off From the Washington Post

The Washington Post has laid off Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee and made sweeping employee cuts across its Arts section in what's been described as a “bloodbath” at the Jeff Bezos-owned paper. All of the paper's staff photographers were also eliminated, raising questions about the future of the paper's visual strategy.Staffers began receiving layoff notices on Wednesday, February 4, after weeks of rumors of a mass downsizing. T…

Pulitzer-Winning ‘Washington Post’ Art Critic Sebastian Smee Laid Off in Cutbacks, But Philip Kennicott Remains

Billionaire Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post laid off some thirty percent of its employees on Wednesday, according to sources quoted in the New York Times, slashing the paper’s sports, local news, and international coverage. More than 300 of the approximately 800 journalists in the newsroom were reportedly let go. Among the casualties was Pulitzer Prize for Criticism honoree Sebastian Smee, who was on staff since 2018. “I had eight wonderful yea…

Washington Post Eliminates Chief Theater Critic Role Amid Mass Layoffs

The Washington Post has laid off Chief Theater Critic Naveen Kumar as part of a sweeping staff reduction that has eliminated approximately one-third of the newspaper’s workforce. The cuts, announced Wednesday, February 4, 2026, by Executive Editor Matt Murray, represent a "strategic reset" aimed at focusing the publication on core areas such as politics, national affairs, and health. In addition to the theater beat, the Post has shuttered its Sp…