The New Yorker Scraps Steve Bannon Interview at Festival After Backlash

New York (AP) -- Facing widespread outrage, The New Yorker has dropped plans to interview Steve Bannon during its festival next month.

New Yorker editor David Remnick told The Associated Press in a statement shared Monday with the magazine's staff that he had changed his mind. The former Donald Trump aide and ex-chairman of Breitbart News was supposed to be a featured guest during a prestigious gathering that over the years has drawn some of the world's most prominent artists and public figures. This year's guests include Emily Blunt, Zadie Smith and Sally Yates, who Trump fired as deputy attorney general after she refused to back his initial ban on travelers from Muslim countries. The ban was advocated by Bannon, a senior White House adviser at the time.