The Hugo Awards Face Backlash for Raytheon Sponsorship

Amongst the sci-fi author community, the backlash has been sharp. Most of the comments in the tweet above are pointing out the bleakness of war profiteers finding a way to profit off a celebration of the typically forward thinking speculative science fiction genre. Some have been quick to point out that it’s just one arm of the company that’s doing the sponsoring, but to many more, the fact that a company who specializes in missiles and drones has a space division in the first place is troubling all on its own. It easily brings to mind how Marvel Comics planned to “team up” with defense contractor Northrop Grumman in an attempt to “focus on aerospace technology and engineering in a positive way.” What ended up happening instead was Marvel canceling the partnership soon after it was announced, and the comic intended to promote this was as in bad taste as it sounded if you knew who Northrop Grumman was.

At time of writing, DisCon has yet to speak on the partnership with Raytheon for the event. For now, fans are left feeling soured that a night that should’ve been about a genre they loved had to brush up against a reality they hate.


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