Tucker Carlson: advertisers desert Fox News host
after he attacks protesters
T-Mobile and Disney say they will no longer advertise
on show
Carlson said protests were ‘definitely not about black
lives’
Adam
Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Published
onThu 11 Jun 2020 18.18 BST
A series of
major US corporations, including T-Mobile and Disney, have said they will no
longer advertise on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, after Carlson was accused
of racism for attacking anti-racism protesters.
In the last
48 hours five companies – T-Mobile, SmileDirectClub, Disney, Papa John’s and
the office furniture company Vari – have said they will pull advertising on
Tucker Carlson Tonight, Media Matters reported, leaving Carlson with a
dwindling list of sponsors.
The exodus
began after Carlson, who has described white supremacy in America as a “hoax”,
suggested the protests inspired by the death of George Floyd were not about
race.
“This may
be a lot of things, this moment we’re living through, but it is definitely not
about black lives. Remember that when they come for you, and at this rate, they
will,” he told his viewers.
On Tuesday
T-Mobile said it had “cancelled all future placements” on Tucker Carlson
Tonight.
The
T-Mobile chief executive, Mike Sievert, went further on Twitter, when he
responded to someone asking if Carlson’s comments were the type of message the
company supported.
“It
definitely is not. Bye-bye Tucker Carlson! #BlackLivesMatter,” Sievert wrote.
Judd Legum,
who publishes the Popular Information newsletter, reported that Disney, Papa
John’s and Vari each dropped Carlson on Wednesday. Media Matters said
SmileDirectClub would also cease advertising on Carlson’s show.
Fox News
attempted to downplay the exodus. “All national dollars/ads were moved to other
programs, and there has not been any national money lost,” a spokeswoman said.
The news
channel had been forced to defend Carlson’s remarks on Tuesday, a spokesman
telling the Washington Post: “Tucker’s warning about ‘when they come for you’
was clearly referring to Democratic leaders and inner city politicians.”
But
Carlson’s comments fit with his previous statements about race.
Carlson,
who on Tuesday criticized a Sesame Street puppet for suggesting racism was a
problem in the US, has broadcast a string of anti-immigrant sentiment.
In one
incident Carlson said that letting low-income people immigrate to America
“makes our own country poor and dirtier”.
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