RBG Award gala canceled, organizers face backlash over 2024 honorees

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

THE DWIGHT D. OPPERMAN FOUNDATION HAS CANCELED ITS RUTH BADER GINSBURG LEADERSHIP AWARD GALA, FOLLOWING CONTROVERSY AND OBJECTIONS  FROM GINSBURG’S FAMILY AND BARBRA STREISAND, A PREVIOUS AWARD RECIPIENT, OVER THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENTS.. 

THE CONTROVERSY AROSE WHEN THE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCED THE 2024 RECIPIENTS IN A YEAR THAT IT ALSO DECIDED TO INCLUDE MEN AMONG THE HONOREES FOR THE FIRST TIME. A MOVE THE FOUNDATIONS SAID WAS TO REFLECT GINSBURG’S COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY.

ELON MUSK, RUPERT MURDOCH, SYLVESTER STALLONE, MICHAEL MILKEN, AND MARTHA STEWART …WHOSE SELECTION HAS SPARKED DEBATE. 

JULIE OPPERMAN, THE CHAIR OF THE FOUNDATION, EXPLAINED THAT THE INTENTION WAS TO HONOR LEADERS ACROSS DIFFERENT FIELDS WHO HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT SOCIETAL CONTRIBUTIONS, WITHOUT POLITICAL BIAS. 

RUPERT MURDOCH’S FOX NEWS AGREED TO PAY DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS 800 MILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR TO SETTLE A LAWSUIT OVER ALLEGATIONS OF SPREADING FALSE 2020 ELECTION CLAIMS. THE OUTLET FACES A SIMILAR LAWSUIT FROM VOTING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY SMARTMATIC FOR $2.7 BILLION.

ELON MUSK, THE BILLIONAIRE BEHIND SPACEX, HAS FACED ACCUSATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM. UNDER HIS OWNERSHIP, \TWITTER — NOW CALLED X — HAS BEEN CRITICIZED FOR ALLOWING THE SPREAD OF PRO-NAZI CONTENT, LEADING TO ADVERTISERS WITHDRAWING THEIR SUPPORT.

MICHAEL MILKEN, ONCE NOTORIOUS FOR HIS ROLE IN THE JUNK BOND MARKET SCANDAL OF THE LATE ’80S, SERVED TIME FOR SECURITIES FRAUD BEFORE REMAKING HIMSELF AS A PHILANTHROPIST. HE RECEIVED A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON IN 2020.

MARTHA STEWART SPENT FIVE MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON IN 2004-2005 FOR HER INVOLVEMENT IN A STOCK SCANDAL.

SYLVESTER STALLONE, KNOWN FOR HIS ROLE IN “ROCKY,” HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT MULTIPLE TIMES, THOUGH HE DENIES THE ALLEGATIONS AND HAS NEVER BEEN CHARGED.

A FORMER GINSBURG CLERK AND EX-DEAN OF NYU’S SCHOOL OF LAW VOICED CONCERNS, STATING THE CHOSEN HONOREES DID NOT EMBODY THE VALUES GINSBURG STOOD FOR. SIMILARLY, GINSBURG’S FAMILY HAS CRITICIZED THE FOUNDATION FOR MOVING AWAY FROM THE AWARD’S ORIGINAL GOAL OF RECOGNIZING WOMEN WHO EXEMPLIFY EMPATHY, HUMILITY, AND LEADERSHIP, VIEWING IT AS DISRESPECTFUL TO GINSBURG’S MEMORY.

IN RESPONSE TO THE BACKLASH, THE FOUNDATION IS REEVALUATING ITS MISSION AND WHETHER TO CONTINUE.

THE AWARD, ESTABLISHED IN 2020 TO COMMEMORATE GINSBURG’S ADVOCACY FOR DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS, AIMS TO RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUALS WHO SHARE THESE QUALITIES. GINSBURG PASSED AWAY IN 2020 AT THE AGE OF 87.