Brazilian President Backs Out Of NYC Gala Following Outrage

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will not attend a New York City gala honoring him following outrage from activists and city and state officials over his visit, the organization hosting the gala announced.

Bolsonaro was going to be honored this month at the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce's annual "Person of the Year" Gala. The event honors individuals that contribute to enhanced relationships between Brazil and the United States. The gala attracted a large amount of negative reception in recent weeks due to the world leader's controversial policies and penchant for making bigoted statements.

"The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce has learned through the office of the President of the Republic of Brazil that President Jair Bolsonaro, the 2019 Person of the Year Honoree, will not be attending the Gala Dinner on May 14th. The Chamber hereby affirms that the Gala Dinner will take place as scheduled," a statement posted on the chamber's website reads.

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce was forced to move the location of its gala from the American Museum of Natural History to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square after staff at the museum voiced objections to Bolsonaro's support for policies such as pushing indigenous people out of the Amazon, rolling back deforestation regulations and cutting scientific research in his home country.

Previous honorees of the chamber include former mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Bill Clinton. The event has been organized since 1970 and was moved to the American Museum of Natural History in 2017 from the Plaza Hotel. Up until 1990 the award was called "man of the year."

State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district includes the Marriott Marquis, called on the hotal to drop the gala because of homophobic and bigoted statements made by the South American world leader. Bolsonaro has previously remarked that he would rather his son die than be gay and said that a female lawmaker in Brazil was "not worth raping" because "she is very ugly."

An online petition started by Hoylman urging Marriott Hotels to drop the event was signed by more than 71,000 people as of this report.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who called the Brazilian president a "very dangerous human being," celebrated the news that Bolsonaro would not be attending the gala.

"Jair Bolsonaro just learned the hard way that New Yorkers don’t turn a blind eye to oppression. We called his bigotry out. He ran away. Not surprised — bullies usually can’t take a punch," de Blasio said in a Tweet. "Good Riddance. Your hatred isn't welcome here.