Fox News host Tucker Carlson continues to face a backlash from advertisers after his controversial comments about immigrants, and Lehi-based Ancestry.com is among the companies that has yanked its commercials.
The genealogy company has been relatively low-key about its decision, delivering only a terse statement: “We are not advertising at this time.” And it has not engaged on Facebook or Twitter with commenters calling for a boycott of the company for withdrawing its ads from “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Ancestry.com also is receiving praise for its decision on social media, where it had been called out for continuing to advertise after Carlson said that immigration "makes our country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided” on his Dec. 13 show.
Other companies have been more forceful, denouncing Carlson. Pacific Life Insurance issued this statement: “As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements.”
And CareerBuilder asserted that its purpose “is to help people build a life that works. Not some people. All people. People looking for jobs. And people looking to hire people who are looking for jobs. Which is why, last Friday, we permanently suspended advertising on some Fox programming, including ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’”
Neither Ancestry.com nor any of the other companies that pulled their adds from “Tucker Carlson Tonight” has stopped advertising on the Fox News Channel. Their ads will air on other shows, meaning the channel is not losing any advertiser revenue, according to a Fox News spokesperson.
And both Carlson and Fox News have been defiant in the face of advertiser pullouts. In a segment in Monday’s show, Carlson said of his statement that immigrants make America dirtier: “It’s true. Those who won’t shut up get silenced. ... The enforcers scream ‘Racist!’ on Twitter until everybody gets intimidated and changes the subject to the Russia investigation or some other distraction. It’s a tactic, a well-worn one. Nobody thinks it’s real. And it won’t work with this show. We’re not intimidated."
And the Fox News Channel released a statement that it “cannot and will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts.”
As of Wednesday, the list of companies that have removed their ads from “Tucker Carlson Tonight” includes Bowflex, IHOP, Indeed, Just for Men, Land Rover, Minted, NerdWallet, SCOTTeVEST, SmileDirectClub, SodaStream, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, TD Ameritrade, United Explorer, Voya Financial and Zenni Optical.
Among the advertisers sticking with Carlson’s show are Alka-Seltzer, AstraZeneca, Farmers Insurance, Gold Bond, John Deere, Mitsubishi and MyPillow.
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