*Seven advertisers have announced they have pulled their ads from Laura Ingraham’s Fox News Channel program, including some that have done so since the conservative host apologized to Parkland high school shooting survivor David Hogg “in the spirit of Holy Week.”
The dispute began Wednesday when Ingraham shared an article about Hogg getting rejected from colleges and accused him of whining about it.
David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018
Thursday she apologized after the 17-year-old launched an advertiser boycott and some companies announced they were pulling spots from her program.
Pick a number 1-12 contact the company next to that #
Top Laura Ingraham Advertisers
1. @sleepnumber
2. @ATT
3. Nutrish
4. @Allstate & @esurance
5. @Bayer
6. @RocketMortgage Mortgage
7. @LibertyMutual
8. @Arbys
9. @TripAdvisor
10. @Nestle
11. @hulu
12. @Wayfair— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018
Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David…(1/2)
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018
Hogg dismissed the apology as an effort to save her advertisers, calling that “not enough.” He retweeted one of his sister, Lauren Hogg’s tweets in which she also suggests the apology lacked a certain sincerity coming, as it did, after advertisers began to bail.
“*Waits till we boycott her advertisers to apologize* wow,” Lauren Hogg tweeted. “Hey @IngrahamAngle please just be a real journalist. Focus on the important stories and use your platform to help people not hurt them.”
*Waits till we boycott her advertisers to apologize* wow.
Hey @IngrahamAngle please just be a real journalist. Focus on the important stories and use your platform to help people not hurt them. #neveragain #ShutUpAndBeObjective #MarchForOurLives https://t.co/wZRBlHk4XS
— Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) March 29, 2018
“It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children,” Hogg said, after which he tweeted another link to a list of her advertisers, telling followers, “If you want to help I would suggest contacting 3-4 of these companies,” adding, “Lets do this.”
I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I️ in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children. https://t.co/H0yWs4zMGk
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018
TripAdvisor said it planned to stop advertising on the show and that it did not “condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster.”
“We also believe Americans can disagree while still being agreeable, and that the free exchange of ideas within a community, in a peaceful manner, is the cornerstone of our democracy,” the company said through a spokesman. “In our view, these statements focused on a high school student cross the line of decency.”
Nutrish, a pet food brand owned by Rachael Ray, said it was “in the process of removing our ads from Laura Ingraham’s program.”
“The comments she has made are not consistent with how we feel people should be treated,” the company said.
Wayfair, an e-commerce company, said in a statement that it supports “open dialogue and debate on issues,” but that it would stop advertising on Ms. Ingraham’s show.
“The decision of an adult to personally criticize a high school student who has lost his classmates in an unspeakable tragedy is not consistent with our values,” the company said.
Nestle said it had “no plans to buy ads on the show in the future,” while Stitch Fix, a clothing box subscription service, said it had pulled its advertisements. Hulu said on Twitter, “We are no longer advertising on Laura Ingraham’s show and are monitoring all of our ad placements carefully.”
We’d like to confirm that we are no longer advertising on Laura Ingraham’s show and are monitoring all of our ad placements carefully.
— hulu (@hulu) March 29, 2018
Expedia said it had “recently pulled the advertising” from Ms. Ingraham’s show, but it did not elaborate on timing or whether the decision was related to her comments.
“#ShutUpAndBeObjective,” Hogg tweeted later Thursday, playing off Ingraham’s previous suggestion that LeBron James should “shut up and dribble” after James criticized President Donald Trump.
#ShutUpAndBeObjective https://t.co/OnMaOz4BNR
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018
