UPDATED: June 12, 1:35 p.m. | Updated to remove SmileDirectClub, which a rep said, “made a bulk media ad buy and did not target advertising on Tucker Carlson’s show. The company ceased the bulk media ad buy (it ended according to schedule plan, it wasn’t pulled) at the end of May, unrelated to Tucker’s recent comments.”
Fox News host and presidential adviser Tucker Carlson has lost a number of big-name advertisers on his nightly television show over the last few days, including Disney, T-Mobile, Papa John’s, SmileDirectClub and Vari.
Tucker Carlson Tonight has seen advertisers taking their business elsewhere as Carlson doubles down on bigoted rhetoric – telling Fox viewers that they are not “required to be upset” about George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police, and casting protests around the country as part of an ancient struggle between “thugs” and “normal people,” just as two examples – while anti-racist and Black Lives Matter protests ramp up all around the country.
Disney pulled all advertising from the program on Wednesday. Disney had run several advertisements for programs on their ABC network during Tucker Carlson Tonight. An ABC spokesperson told Deadline that the advertisements had been place on Carlson’s show “without our knowledge by third-party media buyers” and that these media buyers “have now been notified not to place any further ads.”
Losing five big-name corporate advertisers definitely hurts the bottom line of Carlson’s program, and the Fox News Channel as a whole, and one wonders how long it will be before Carlson takes another “pre-planned” vacation from his show like in 2019, after a televised rant where he claimed white supremacy was a hoax. Or perhaps even a permanent vacation.
_Please follow CDC guidelines and Orange County advisories to stay safe, and please support this free publication. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you news on how coronavirus is affecting Central Florida. Please consider making a one-time or monthly donation. Every little bit helps.
Related Stories
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2020.