More advertisers drop Laura Ingraham after Parkland comments

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — More advertisers dropped Fox News personality Laura Ingraham on Friday, two days after she mocked a Florida school shooting survivor online.

At least 11 companies had said by Friday afternoon that they would pull their ads from “The Ingraham Angle.”

On Wednesday, Ingraham tweeted, “David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it.”

In response, Hogg, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who filmed students hiding from the gunman in their classrooms, was quick to respond, tweeting a list of a dozen advertisers and encouraging followers to immediately call them and ask them to drop Ingraham. Hogg has faced intense criticism from right-wing conservatives and gun advocates who have falsely called him a crisis actor after the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland that killed 17.

“Soooo @IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers … Asking for a friend,” he wrote with the hashtag #BoycottIngramAdverts.

Of the businesses listed by Hogg, online home goods store Wayfair, food company Nestle, travel website TripAdvisor, video-streaming service Hulu and Rachel Ray’s dog food Nutrish said they are removing their support from Ingraham. Though not specifically mentioned in Hogg’s initial tweet, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Expedia, StitchFix, Johnson & Johnson and Atlantis, Paradise Island resort have also dropped Ingraham.

Ingraham apologized Thursday on Twitter, saying, “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.”

Ingraham tweeted that she thought she was the first to feature Hogg on her show after the shooting and added, “he’s welcome to come on my show anytime for a productive discussion.”

Hogg tweeted later Thursday that an apology to save advertisers wasn’t enough and that he’d only accept Ingraham’s apology if she denounced the way Fox News has treated his friends.

“It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children,” Hogg wrote.

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