Fox News host Tucker Carlson has sparked the ire of his advertisers after going on a racially charged rant against the Black Lives Matter movement for protesting the murder of George Floyd. Now they are pulling their das from his opinion show.
“This may be a lot of things, this moment we are living through, but it is definitely not about black lives, and remember that when they come for you,” Carlson said on Monday. “And at this rate, they will.”
Hours later, the liberal activist group Sleeping Giants tweeted that Carlson’s remarks were “extremely racist” and asked T-Mobile — known to run advertising during Carlson’s hourlong program — to reconsider its financial support for the show.
The telecommunications giant tweeted back saying, “We haven’t run ads on Tucker Carlson Tonight since early May and have cancelled all future placements. We will continue to support those who stand against racial injustice.”
Later in the day, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert tweeted, “Bye-bye, Tucker Carlson!”
Several big companies, including Disney and Papa John’s, have since followed in T-Mobile’s footsteps by announcing they would no longer advertise on Carlson’s show either.
Papa John’s said it would no longer advertise on any “opinion-based programming,” adding that “placement of advertising is not intended to be an endorsement of any specific programming or commentary.”
Disney confirmed to Popular Information that it would no longer advertise on Carlson’s show. Disney ads had appeared 29 times on the show this year, according to the publication.
The company’s move followed a statement from CEO Bob Chapek in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The killing of George Floyd has forced our nation to once again confront the long history of injustice that black people in America have suffered, and it is critical that we stand together, speak out and do everything in our power to ensure that acts of racism and violence are never tolerated,” he said in a June 3 statement.
Other companies that have pulled their advertising at the time were Pacific Life Insurance, IHOP and TD Ameritrade.
Watch Tucker Carlson’s controversial comments below:
Of course. We haven’t run ads on Tucker Carlson Tonight since early May and have cancelled all future placements. We will continue to support those who stand against racial injustice.
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) June 10, 2020
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