Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Takes A Vacation As Advertisers Flee Show Following David Hogg Tweet
Fox News host Laura Ingraham will be taking next week off, as advertisers flee her show following a controversial tweet about Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg, Business Insider is reporting. However, the network insists that this is a “pre-planned vacation” that has nothing to do with the advertiser exodus.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Ingraham sparked an intense controversy last week when she tweeted about Hogg, a 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who has become a gun-control activist following the February 14 school shooting. Specifically, Ingraham was responding to an interview Hogg had given to TMZ, in which he pointed out that his college applications to four top California universities had been rejected. Ingraham tweeted that Hogg was “whining” about his rejections.
“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.)”
Not long afterward, David responded with a tweet of his own, calling on advertisers on Ingraham’s show, The Ingraham Angle, to ditch their sponsorship. He also provided a list of sponsors, asking his Twitter followers to contact the advertisers.
Several sponsors have heeded the call, according to the New York Times, and are ditching the show. Those include TV-streaming service Hulu, pet-food manufacturer Nutrish, Nestle, and TripAdvisor.
The Laura Ingraham Boycott Has Nothing To Do With Decency. It Has Everything To Do With Politics.| By @benshapiro https://t.co/UlNjX1Wgpy
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) April 1, 2018
Another advertiser, home-goods manufacturer Wayfair, criticized Ingraham for taking on a teenager.
“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.”
Ingraham, for her part, later apologized.
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
David, however, refused to accept Ingraham’s apology.
“I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children.”
Apology or no apology, it appears that Ingraham will be taking next week off from her show, an announcement she made on Friday. However, she claims that the absence has nothing to do with the Hogg controversy, but that she is instead taking some time off to enjoy a break after Easter. Similarly, her network also claims that the break has nothing to do with the Hogg controversy, but was instead a “pre-planned vacation with her kids.”
