These days, advertisers aren't in the market to play games with their brand's image. Should a client proceed to step onto the wrong side of history, many companies have reasoned that it's become safer to drop first and ask questions later. It's a reality that Fox News host Tucker Carlson has come to understand first-hand time and time again, in this instance following his recent crusade against Black Lives Matter.
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By now it's no secret that Carlson holds no love for the organization, nor the goals they seek to achieve. In recent episodes of his admittedly popular Fox News shows, Carlson has made disparaging comments against Black Lives Matter, going so far as to aim his sights on Sesame Streets -- focused political ire aimed at a gaggle of muppets.
Seeing as we're in the midst of what feels like a systemic revolution, thanks in large part to protests against police brutality and anti-Black racism, many companies have opted to offer their support to the movement. As Tucker Carlson has maintained a firm stance against BLM and everything they stand for, several of his advertisers have recently made the decision to cut ties with the Fox News Host. According to Deadline, Disney, T-Mobile, Papa Johns, Vari, and SmileDirectClub are five of the latest to walk away from FOX News.
On the topic of Disney, the mega-corporation claimed that its ads were mistakenly run on FOX due to a third-party error. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert took to Twitter to maintain that his values did not align with the controversial host, and put it rather succinctly with a "bye bye Tucker Carlson!" Papa Johns issued a similar statement, writing " Placement of advertising is not intended to be an endorsement of any specific programming or commentary. We have decided to suspend all resources allocated against opinion-based programming."
As of now, Fox News has yet to comment on the mass exodus of advertisers. One has to wonder if Tucker Carlson has a stern talking to in his future.
