A planned discussion ended up pulled after numerous participants threatened to withdraw from the Vienna Festival over the IT investor’s appearance.
The Vienna Festival cancelled a scheduled appearance of US-German tech mogul Peter Thiel after facing mounting criticism from its sponsors and a mass exodus of other participants.
The co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, widely known for his controversial right-wing and “transhumanist” views, was expected to participate in a discussion titled ‘Armageddon and the Antichrist? From Theology to Realpolitik.’ This year, the Festival declared itself the “Republic of Gods,” advertising itself as a “space of radical criticism and new beginnings.”
The scheduled panel immediately drew controversy, with some seeing it as an opportunity to debate Thiel’s controversial ideas, while others argued the entrepreneur’s apocalyptic worldview should not receive a platform at all. His scheduled appearance has been criticized by the Vienna city authorities, which sponsor the festival.
“The invitation to Peter Thiel is quite rightly causing great discontent among the public,” Vienna’s City Councillor for Culture, Veronica Kaup-Hasler, told Der Standard newspaper.
The mass withdrawal of other participants from the event became the final straw, with organizers admitting the Thiel controversy had weakened the festival “to an unacceptable extent.” They ultimately announced on Saturday that the discussion with the entrepreneur was cancelled.
“Not at any cost: I take the critical voices very seriously. Out of my responsibility for the overall program, I unfortunately had to decide against the planned event with Peter Thiel, although I found it extremely compelling and thematically consistent within the framework of the Republic of Gods. However, insisting on the event would run counter to my appreciation of our artistic program and everyone involved in it,” Artistic Director Milo Rau said in a statement.
Thiel’s public speeches have repeatedly sparked controversy. Back in March, he held a series of invitation-only lectures on the Antichrist in Rome at a secret location near the Vatican. Some media reports even claimed that the event would be held in the Pontifical St. Thomas Aquinas University – the alma mater of Pope Leo XIV. The institution rushed to deny any links to the event, while other Vatican-linked officials criticized Thiel’s activities as well.
