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Fox News Host Shedding Advertisers Over Controversial Comments

Dec 18, 2018  •  Post A Comment

Some advertisers are exiting a Fox News Channel show over controversial comments made by the host. The AP reports that Tucker Carlson is under fire after saying that immigrants could make the U.S. “poorer and dirtier.”

“So far, the show’s biggest advertisers appear to be sticking with him and his prime-time show, ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,'” the AP reports, adding that experts say the controversy is likely to blow over.

“Carlson said last Thursday that there’s pressure from ‘our leaders’ to accept immigrants ‘even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.’ He added Monday that in the Southwest, ‘thanks to illegal immigration, huge swaths of the region are covered with garbage and waste that degrade the soil and kill wildlife,'” the AP reports.

The report adds: “The comments caused a furor on social media. Several advertisers, including the IHOP restaurant chain, personal finance website NerdWallet and Pacific Life insurance, have pulled advertising from the show. (NerdWallet is a content partner of The Associated Press.) SmileDirectClub said it is working with its ad buyers to stop running ads during any political opinion shows.”

Pacific Life is quoted saying on Twitter: “As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in.”

The AP report adds: “IHOP spokeswoman Stephanie Peterson said the chain continually evaluates ad placements to make sure they align with the company’s values of ‘welcoming all folks from all backgrounds and beliefs.’ She said the company will continue to advertise on other Fox News programs.”

Fox News issued a statement saying that “left wing advocacy groups” were using social media to “stifle free speech,” adding that FNC “continues to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.”

The AP adds: “Later on Tuesday, Fox issued another statement saying it won’t allow Carlson to be ‘censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts.’ Fox added that all advertisers have switched their ads to other shows, so no revenue was lost.”

But according to The Hollywood Reporter, at least 16 companies had stopped advertising on Carlson’s program. The publication reported a list that includes CareerBuilder, Takeda Pharmaceuticals (makers of Entyvio), TD Ameritrade, IHOP, the United Explorer credit card, Just For Men, Jaguar Land Rover, Ancestry.com, SCOTTeVEST, Zenni Optical and Voya Financial along with Bowflex, SmileDirectClub, NerdWallet, Minted and Pacific Life.

11 Comments

  1. I love it when advertisers do this – it provides a nice, short list of companies I will never patronize again.

    • Hey Bill — guess what, these are principled companies that didn’t want your foul, disgusting money to begin with. You are a stinking stain on the planet.

      • A kind tolerant liberal folks.

  2. And I find it refreshing that businesses will stand up to jerks like Carlson and refuse to support ignorant comments such as these. I guess it makes Carlson feel better about himself to put down others less fortunate.

  3. Tucker Carlson reminds me of the dweebs in high school that you would kick to the curb.
    If he and Hannity were shipwrecked on an island, the rescue ship wouldn’t pick either up.

  4. Good news. Sad that they were STILL advertising with Fox News, but a win’s a win. Hopefully this spreads and last.

  5. “Carlson said last Thursday that there’s pressure from ‘our leaders’ to accept immigrants ‘even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.” Let’s look at his comments and see if they are true or false. 1. “…makes our country poorer…” If he was speaking from a strictly economic standpoint, this is true. 2. …”makes our country dirtier…” I don’t have a clue where that came from but it’s patently false. 3. “…makes our country more divided…” Considering how divisive this issue resonates with people, it’s probably true too. My suggestion, if you don’t like what he says, don’t watch him. I don’t. I do have a problem with the TV Week headlines of this story (and many of their stories). I was thinking TC was toast. “SHEDDING” advertisers. He’s gone. Think Bill O’Riley. Then the story actually reads that “…So far, the show’s biggest advertisers appear to be sticking with him…”. WHAT? “Several advertisers, including the IHOP restaurant chain, personal finance website NerdWallet and Pacific Life insurance, have pulled advertising from the show. So 3 advertisers have pulled ads (and Fox says they have switched the ads to other fox shows). That is “SHEDDING”? TV Week is writing their headlines to draw us in. The real story is often not what you read in the headlines but in the body of the article. In journalism school, they teach you that most readers only read the first few paragraphs of a story. If you want to conceal a fact you don’t want your readers to really know, just put it into the last paragraph.

    • I have a bigger problem with the false, bigoted and dangerous rhetoric on Fox News. I’ll take a slightly exaggerated TV Week headline over that cesspool any day.

      • Pity about the provably blatant lies in CNN and MSNBC.

  6. Well once again Skeptical Observer hits the nail squarely on the head (you other guys need to sign up for his class, you might actually learn how to think critically). Have any of you paused to wonder how many advertisers are “shedding” MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” after Minka’s crassly homophobic statement? Where is THAT headline? Where is THAT story? And if you haven’t seen a story about that, well there’s your indictment of the overly liberal media and their double standard. If Sean Hannity had said what Minka did, would there have been advertisers leaving his show? If so, why him and not “Morning Joe”?? The selective moral outrage on the left is pitiful. Day after day, week after week “TV Week” shows it’s liberal bias in WHAT stories they cover, HOW they are written and what “edgy” headline they write. I enjoy seeing the loony liberals write their vacuous comments here and then have someone like Skeptical Observer burn their houses to the ground. It’s always very “educational.”

  7. The bald-faced lies, the echo-chamber emptiness, and the crass, partisan stupidity of “Sceptical [sic] Observer” and “Sir William” aren’t worth responding to. Such meretricious fools and liars.

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