Industry news for the professional cartoonist
The South African Film and Publication Board gave The Showerhead documentary a “16 LNPSV” rating (suitable for over 16, containing language, nudity, prejudice, sex, violence). The film focuses on Jonathan Shapiro’s (AKA Zapiro) controversial cartoons during the Jacob Zuma presidential term, challenging the boundaries of freedom of expression. Producers of the film are appealing the…
A documentary on the career and influence of South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, AKA Zapiro, debuted at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa. The film focuses on Zapiro’s controversial cartoons during Jacob Zuma’s presidential term, challenging the boundaries of freedom of expression. The documentary description: The Showerhead examines the work of cartoonist Zapiro,…
I’ve heard of stories where cartoonists find themselves on the phone with the president. In this video Zapiro recounts the time he found himself taking a complaint from South African President Mandela. Watch the video. I won’t tease/spoil it any further.
/wp-content/uploads/tdc-images/zapiro-india.jpg India Times reports that several organizations are calling for a boycott of South Africa by the Indian cricket team because of a cartoon by Sunday Times editorial cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (“Zapiro”). The cartoon features Cricket South Africa CEO about to be sacrificed on an alter in front of the Indian god Ganesha (labeled Indian…
Fox News profiles Jonathan Shapiro (“Zapiro”): Shapiro, 55, has made a career of stripping away taboos and artifice with satire. Sometimes he gets sued, most notably by President Jacob Zuma. The Mandela cartoon in April for The Times, a South African newspaper, was one of his gentler efforts and a commentary on a nation that…
RFI reports on the issues surrounding several Jonathan Shapiro (AKA Zapiro) cartoons depicting former president Nelson Mandela who by most accounts is close to passing. The 94 year old apartheid leader is currently in the hospital in stable but serious condition battling a lung infection. RFI reports that many South African’s are struggling with the…
South African President Jacob Zuma has withdrawn his lawsuit against Jonathan Shapiro (AKA Zapiro) ending a four year case wherein Zuma alleged that a cartoon depicting him preparing to rape Lady Justice was defamation and impaired his dignity. Zuma contends that dropping the suit avoids setting a negative precedent: “The president… would like to avoid…
South African President Jacob Zuma has reduced his claim against editorial cartoonist Jonthan Shapiro (AKA Zapiro) from R4-million to R100,000. The case stems from a 2008 cartoon in which Zapiro depicted Zuma preparing to rape Lady Justice. Zuma alleged that the cartoon harmed his dignity and damaged his reputation. Along with the reduction in the…
Last week a Jonathan Shapiro (AKA Zapiro) cartoon ran in the Mail and Guardian depicting South African President Jacob Zuma as a penis. For context, the BBC explains that the African National Congress forced an art gallery to remove a painting of President Zuma with exposed genitals which touched off a debate about free expression…
South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, better known as Zapiro has won the International Publishers Association’s Freedom to Publish prize. The Freedom to Publish award is given to individuals who make “notable contribution to the defence and promotion of freedom to publish anywhere in the world.” Zapiro is currently being sued by the South African president,…
A commission with a really, really long name (“Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities”) has taken issue with Jonathan Shapiro’s (AKA Zapiro) continued use of a shower head drawn above South Africa President Jacob Zuma. The group calls it “culturally, religiously and linguistically unprecedented to attack…
Jonathan Shapiro (AKA Zapiro) has once again depicted South African president Jacob Zuma preparing to rape a woman. This cartoon depicts Zuma with iconic shower head in front of a woman labeled “Free Speech” being held by the ANC with Lady Justice (the target of the last rape cartoon) warning Free Speech “Fight, sister, fight!”…
South African editorial cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (AKA “Zapiro”) is fighting two lawsuits lodged against him by South African President Jacob Zuma for what is claimed offensive cartoons. Combined, the two defamation suits seek damages up to 7 million. Not only is Zapiro fighting those suits, he’s also fighting against a government initiative that would “seek…
South African President Jacob Zuma finally made good on his promise to sue Jonathan Shapiro (pen name “Zapiro”), the editor-in-chief and Avusa Media for a cartoon that ran two years ago depicting Zuma about to rape lady justice. The suit was filed back in 2008 but it just now received by the defendants. Zuma states…