Laura Ingraham Advertiser Boycott Directed By ‘Shadowy Radical Groups,’ Bill O’Reilly Claims
The snowballing advertiser boycott of Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News is being led by “shadowy radical groups,” Bill O'Reilly, her ousted former colleague on the network, claimed Monday.
“Ms. Ingraham faces a sponsor boycott for telling an activist anti-gun high school student to stop whining about his college admission woes. That tweet was ill-advised and Laura has apologized,” O’Reilly, who was terminated by Fox News a year ago, wrote on his website. “But know this: the sponsor boycott is not some spontaneous uprising by companies. It is being directed by powerful, shadowy radical groups who want Laura Ingraham off the air.”
Sponsors started pulling out from Ingraham’s 10 p.m. show The Ingraham Angle after she tweeted that Parkland, Florida, shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was rejected by four colleges he applied to and “whines” about it.
Ingraham apologized for her tweet, but on Twitter Hogg asked for her biggest advertisers with the hashtag #BoycottIngrahamAdverts. He came up with a list of a dozen sponsors. As of Monday, at least 15 advertisers had bailed, including Nutrish, Hulu, Expedia and Office Depot.
Advertisers have continued to pull out even as Ingraham on Friday announced she was taking a preplanned week off to spend Easter with her family. A year ago, O’Reilly also announced he would take a vacation for Easter and was subsequently fired by the network after reports revealed he had paid off half a dozen women to settle sexual harassment lawsuits.
In his post, O’Reilly wrote, “Same thing happened to me,” referring to the sponsor boycott he claimed was led by “shadowy radical groups,” presumably teenagers or supporters of Hogg. But he may clarify that on Monday night.
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O’Reilly wrote that he and Bernard Goldberg "will analyze this intense situation and expose the 'boycott' industry" on his website's 7 p.m. show, No Spin News.