I don’t believe we have commented on the kerfuffle involving Laura Ingraham and David Hogg, teenage anti-gun advocate and survivor of the Parkland school shooting. As most of our readers are probably aware, Ingraham came under fire for poking fun at Hogg after he talked about his rejection by certain colleges he applied to.
Hogg disclosed that he had been rejected by UCLA and a few other institutions. Ingraham then tweeted:
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.)
Hogg responded by drumming up a boycott against Ingraham’s sponsors. He tweeted:
Soooo @IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers … Asking for a friend. #BoycottIngramAdverts.
He also tweeted:
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
Hogg succeeded in causing fifteen companies, including many but not all of those on his list, to pull their adds from Ingraham’s show. Ingraham apologized, but Hogg did not accept the apology.
This week, Ingraham is taking a vacation from her show. This prompted speculation that Fox News might sack her.
That never seemed likely, and now we know it won’t happen. Fox News co-president Jack Abernethy has released this statement:
We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts. We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she return from her vacation next Monday.
Millions of viewers also look forward to this, as well. If Fox News had knuckled under to David Hogg and company, its audience would have taken this very badly. Already, there was a “Stand With Laura” campaign.
It’s important to remember that Ingraham did not ridicule Hogg for being rejected by colleges, as various media outlets claimed. She ridiculed him for whining publicly about it, as she viewed it (I wouldn’t characterize Hogg’s comments to CNN’sA lisyn Camerota as whining, though).
In any case, Ingraham should have refrained. But the offense, if any, was surely minor. In a sane world, it never would have led to a boycott.
Here, for those keeping score, are the companies who pulled their Ingraham Angle ads:
Nutrish
Wayfair
Expedia
TripAdvisor
Johnson & Johnson
Hulu
Bayer
Miracle-Ear
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Atlantis, Paradise Island
Ruby Tuesday
Jenny Craig
Stitch Fix
Nestle
Office Depot
The following companies on Hogg’s target list apparently did not pull ads:
Sleepnumber
AT&T
Allstate
Rocket Mortgage
Arbys
I’ll have fries with that roast beef sandwich.
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