A New York Times bestselling author was disinvited from speaking at a school-sponsored event after concerns were raised regarding a years-old post showing her support for Gaza.

Vashti Harrison, an award-winning author and illustrator best known for children’s books, was scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the African American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 17.

However, a post from January 2024 surfaced showing Harrison's proud support for signing a letter that would be sent to then-President Joe Biden demanding a ceasefire.

Not only was Harrison nixed from the event sponsored by Broward County Public Schools (BCPS), but the entire function was canceled in an apology to the public from the district on Thursday.

'The District was unaware of previous statements made by the speaker at the time of the selection,' wrote BCPS.

'The event, including associated school field trips, is being canceled and will be rescheduled with a different speaker.'

While neither the 38-year-old author nor the event was named directly, a spokesperson for the Broward County Public Library system confirmed to the Miami Herald that Harrison’s event had been canceled.

The event was listed on the BCPS website, inviting guests to 'Join the Federal Programs department as we welcome the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of children's books, Vashti Harrison to inspire young minds to dream Big.'

'Food will be provided and please register to the link provided,' reads the listing. The link to RSVP is no longer active.

The shutdown of the event follows a blog post from Kevin Deutsch, a local reporter who operates the Substack After October 7.

Deutsch took responsibility for outing Harrison's alleged participation in 'an anti-Israel campaign that accused the Jewish state of “genocide” and falsely claimed it sought to “destroy all Palestinian people,” among other false and unsupported claims.'

The reporter wrote that he pressed BCPS with questions after he revealed that Harrison supported Gaza.

'Who selected and approved Harrison, what vetting was conducted, whether officials knew about her involvement in the campaign and its false claims about Israel, whether she was being paid, whether Title I or other public money was being used, and whether the district would reconsider her participation,' Deutsch asked.

Cathleen Brennan, a BCPS spokesperson, told the reporter the district had contacted its 'subject matter experts' and that their office would get back to him with information once it became available.

In Harrison's 2024 post, she noted that she was one of the 7,000 voices who had signed the KidLit4Ceasefire letter, which gathered signatures from members of the literary and publishing community.

'Dear President Biden, We’ve come together as children’s authors, illustrators, agents, editors, and other publishing professionals across the US and beyond who have witnessed the indiscriminate bombing and ground invasions of Gaza by Israeli forces over the last 100+ days,' read the letter from 2024.

'These attacks have resulted in more than 31,000 Palestinians killed. 12,000 of these victims are children of a median reported age of five years old (1),' the letter continued.

Those figures have since doubled, with more than 67,000 Palestinians killed and nearly 170,000 others wounded as of October 2025, according to Gaza Ministry of Health figures.

The Daily Mail has reached out to BCPS and Vashti Harrison for comment.