Fox News has been unapologetically critical of the school shooting survivors in Parkland, FL, almost assuredly due to their vocal criticism of the NRA and the lack of gun control in the United States. However, shockingly enough: it turns out that bullying teen victims of gun violence isn’t a great PR move, particularly to advertisers.
Laura Ingraham, one of the myriad icy blonde Fox News hosts whose personality is reminiscent of a pizza cutter shoved into a Bible, recently mocked David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland shooting and an outspoken proponent for gun control, about his rejection from four colleges.
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.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018
Obviously, Ingraham’s maliciousness towards a teenage survivor of gun violence was not well met. At the behest of David Hogg, advertisers such as Hulu, Johnson & Johnson, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, and Wayfair all pulled their advertising from Ingraham’s show, taking a stance against her tone-deaf bullying.
We’d like to confirm that we are no longer advertising on Laura Ingraham’s show and are monitoring all of our ad placements carefully.
— hulu (@hulu) March 29, 2018
We are in the process of removing our ads from Laura Ingraham’s program.
— Nutrish (@Nutrish) March 29, 2018
It was only after advertisers began to pull out that Ingraham issued a strained apology, “in the spirit of Holy Week.”
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
… immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how “poised” he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion. WATCH: https://t.co/5wcd00wWpd (2/2)
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018
Many people were not moved or convinced by Ingraham’s half-hearted apology, which likely only occurred due to waning corporate sponsorship.
I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I️ in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children. https://t.co/H0yWs4zMGk
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018
Ingraham’s apology received widespread criticism for its insincerity and its exploitation of religion.
I would like a complete liturgical calendar showing the dates Laura Ingraham will agree to not be a terrible human being. Are we safe on Pentecost? Candlemas? The Feast of St. Boniface?
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) March 29, 2018
Hey Laura @IngrahamAngle,
You ‘apologized’ to the Parkland survivors ‘in the spirit of Holy Week.’
In the spirit of Holy Week?! Don’t pull Jesus and Easter into this.
Jesus hates your stupid Nazi propaganda show.
Jesus thinks you’re a huge piece of shit. He’s right.
— God (@TheGoodGodAbove) March 30, 2018
On reflection, in light of all my advertisers leaving my show, I will make a fake apology and exploit the spirit of Holy Week, using religion to cover my hypocrisy.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 29, 2018
Guess more advertisers left than you expected huh
— Greg Shugar (@GregShugar) March 29, 2018
Dear @IngrahamAngle here is how one makes an apology
1. “I’m Sorry”
2. “what I did was wrong”
3. “it will never happen again”
4. “what can I do to make it right?”all of that should be directed at @davidhogg111 with true sincerity thats how an adult apologizes any week
— Susan Doyle (@SusanDoyle1963) March 29, 2018
Things Jesus is said to have done during Holy Week:
Healed people.
Washed people’s feet.
Forgave his betrayer.
Let himself be unjustly arrested, beaten, and killed.What you’ve done so far:
Stopped trolling a teenage shooting victim under financial pressure.Stop using Jesus.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) March 30, 2018
She gave up decency for Lent.
42 years ago.
She hasn’t found it since.
— Doug Dreger (@silverage12) March 29, 2018
Laura Ingraham, you got a surprise. The resistance to your brand of shaming crap is alive and well.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 29, 2018
While some people might argue that Ingraham’s apology is legit, the timing is particularly suspect.
“She only apologized after we went after her advertisers,” Hogg told the New York Times. “It kind of speaks for itself.”