In April 2015, Ondaatje was one of several members of PEN American Center who withdrew as literary host when the organization gave its annual Freedom of Expression Courage award to "Charlie Hebdo". The award came in the wake of the shooting attack on the magazine's Paris offices in January 2015. Ondaatje and several other hosts condemned the attack on the office of "Charlie Hebdo", but claimed that due to the magazine's history of anti-Islam content it should not have been honoured.