Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAndrew Breitbart
By RUSSELL ADAMS and JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
Andrew Breitbart, a conservative Internet entrepreneur known for controversial reports that damaged the careers of Democratic officials, died early Thursday.
"With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart," a post on his website Breitbart.com said. "Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles."
Mr. Breitbart, 43 years old, collapsed on the sidewalk near his Brentwood home, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office. "Pending an exam, which will probably take place as early as [Friday], we have no opinion yet as to the cause of death," the spokesman said. He added that the coroner's office understood that Mr. Breitbart had seen a doctor about a year ago for a cardiac issue.
Mr. Breitbart oversaw a stable of sites including bighollywood.com, biggovernment.com and bigjournalism.com. He helped start the Huffington Post, though he left shortly after its launch.
In 2010, he posted a video of an address Shirley Sherrod, then an official with the Department of Agriculture, had given to the NAACP. In the clip, Ms. Sherrod, who is black, appeared to show bias against whites. She was dismissed from her job as a result.
Later, the full version of the speech showed that Ms. Sherrod's remarks had been heavily edited. The White House apologized, and Ms. Sherrod was offered a new position, which she declined.
Last year, Mr. Breitbart published revealing photos former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner had sent to women he met online. Before a news conference Mr. Weiner called to address the issue, Mr. Breitbart took the podium and began answering questions. Mr. Weiner later resigned.
Mr. Breitbart was a critic of what he regarded as a liberal bias in the major news media, which he sought to expose. In 2009, he offered guidance to conservative activist James O'Keefe on Mr. O'Keefe's video sting operation against Acorn, a community-organizing association accused of illegal voter-registration practices. Barack Obama's political opponents had highlighted the president's connections to Acorn on the campaign trail; Mr. Obama, who had represented the group as a lawyer years before, said his ties to Acorn were minimal.
The videos, posted on Mr. Breitbart's biggovernment.com, showed Acorn workers offering advice to Mr. O'Keefe and a cohort, who were posing as a pimp and a prostitute, on matters like how to claim underage prostitutes on a tax return.
"Andrew was very passionate about the so-called liberal bias, but he always had a twinkle in his eye that signaled he was exercising his American right of freedom of speech," said Rick Wolff, an executive editor at Lagardere SCA's Grand Central Publishing and Mr. Breitbart's editor. "He was very much a successful author. His followers loved him."
Even when Mr. Breitbart didn't write about politics, he brought an edgy style to his work. A review published in The Wall Street Journal of 2004's "Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon—the Case Against Celebrity," co-written with Mark Ebner, described the book as "written in waspish, hipster lingo reminiscent of 1950s scandal sheets—worldly and shocked at the same time."
Mr. Breitbart's "Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World," published in 2011, sold 25,000 hardcover copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75% of book sales in the U.S., though not digital-book sales. The book—part memoir, part manifesto—was a national best-seller, the book's publisher said.
Grand Central Publishing may move up the publication date of the paperback, currently scheduled for next month. That edition includes a new chapter that Mr. Breitbart wrote about the Anthony Weiner episode.
Mr. Breitbart grew up in Hollywood. His father was a restaurateur and his mother a banker, according to a 2009 interview with the Journal. After graduating from Tulane University, he returned to Southern California, where he worked for a time in film production and music journalism.
He launched his Internet career in the mid-1990s, working for a while on the conservative website Drudge Report. The site's founder, Matt Drudge, later introduced him to Arianna Huffington, sparking their eventual collaboration on the Huffington Post.
"We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior," the Breitbart.com post said. "Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love."
Write to Russell Adams at russell.adams@wsj.com and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com
Andrew Breitbart, a conservative Internet entrepreneur known for controversial reports that damaged the careers of Democratic officials, died early Thursday.
"With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart," a post on his website Breitbart.com said. "Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles."
Mr. Breitbart, 43 years old, collapsed on the sidewalk near his Brentwood home, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office. "Pending an exam, which will probably take place as early as [Friday], we have no opinion yet as to the cause of death," the spokesman said. He added that the coroner's office understood that Mr. Breitbart had seen a doctor about a year ago for a cardiac issue.
Mr. Breitbart oversaw a stable of sites including bighollywood.com, biggovernment.com and bigjournalism.com. He helped start the Huffington Post, though he left shortly after its launch.
In 2010, he posted a video of an address Shirley Sherrod, then an official with the Department of Agriculture, had given to the NAACP. In the clip, Ms. Sherrod, who is black, appeared to show bias against whites. She was dismissed from her job as a result.
Later, the full version of the speech showed that Ms. Sherrod's remarks had been heavily edited. The White House apologized, and Ms. Sherrod was offered a new position, which she declined.
Last year, Mr. Breitbart published revealing photos former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner had sent to women he met online. Before a news conference Mr. Weiner called to address the issue, Mr. Breitbart took the podium and began answering questions. Mr. Weiner later resigned.
Mr. Breitbart was a critic of what he regarded as a liberal bias in the major news media, which he sought to expose. In 2009, he offered guidance to conservative activist James O'Keefe on Mr. O'Keefe's video sting operation against Acorn, a community-organizing association accused of illegal voter-registration practices. Barack Obama's political opponents had highlighted the president's connections to Acorn on the campaign trail; Mr. Obama, who had represented the group as a lawyer years before, said his ties to Acorn were minimal.
The videos, posted on Mr. Breitbart's biggovernment.com, showed Acorn workers offering advice to Mr. O'Keefe and a cohort, who were posing as a pimp and a prostitute, on matters like how to claim underage prostitutes on a tax return.
"Andrew was very passionate about the so-called liberal bias, but he always had a twinkle in his eye that signaled he was exercising his American right of freedom of speech," said Rick Wolff, an executive editor at Lagardere SCA's Grand Central Publishing and Mr. Breitbart's editor. "He was very much a successful author. His followers loved him."
Even when Mr. Breitbart didn't write about politics, he brought an edgy style to his work. A review published in The Wall Street Journal of 2004's "Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon—the Case Against Celebrity," co-written with Mark Ebner, described the book as "written in waspish, hipster lingo reminiscent of 1950s scandal sheets—worldly and shocked at the same time."
Mr. Breitbart's "Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World," published in 2011, sold 25,000 hardcover copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75% of book sales in the U.S., though not digital-book sales. The book—part memoir, part manifesto—was a national best-seller, the book's publisher said.
Grand Central Publishing may move up the publication date of the paperback, currently scheduled for next month. That edition includes a new chapter that Mr. Breitbart wrote about the Anthony Weiner episode.
Mr. Breitbart grew up in Hollywood. His father was a restaurateur and his mother a banker, according to a 2009 interview with the Journal. After graduating from Tulane University, he returned to Southern California, where he worked for a time in film production and music journalism.
He launched his Internet career in the mid-1990s, working for a while on the conservative website Drudge Report. The site's founder, Matt Drudge, later introduced him to Arianna Huffington, sparking their eventual collaboration on the Huffington Post.
"We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior," the Breitbart.com post said. "Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love."
Write to Russell Adams at russell.adams@wsj.com and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com
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