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Fox News host Laura Ingraham ignited controversy on March 28, 2018, when she posted a tweet taunting the survivor of a school shooting for his college acceptance rates. The student, David Hogg, was a survivor of the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and has went on to become one of the student leaders of the #NeverAgain movement, which advocates for stricter gun control laws in the United States. On March 24, he spoke at the March For Our Lives rally in Washington D.C., after which Ingraham mocked him for being rejected by 4 colleges and for his 4.1 GPA.
In response, Hogg listed Ingraham's show's sponsors on Twitter and invited his followers to contact them expressing their displeasure. Unsurprisingly, making fun of a shooting survivor isn't a look many of Ingraham's sponsors wanted to be associated with. 11 companies have now withdrawn their support from her program, despite an apology from Ingraham. On March 30, the host announced she would be taking a week off for Easter, which happens to be the same step taken by Bill O'Reilley in 2017 (amid a similar advertiser boycott) before he was ultimately fired.
Here's Ingraham's tweet mocking David Hogg:
David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...tota… https://t.co/HB7tMNEbEb— Laura Ingraham (@Laura Ingraham)1522251922.0
2 days of advertiser boycotting later...
BREAKING: Laura Ingraham announced on tonight's show that she would take next week off and be replaced by "a great… https://t.co/Zen7Zr8j8X— Jon Levine (@Jon Levine)1522466828.0
For some Twitter users, the writing is on the wall.
Former Fox News president Joe Peyronnin told me today the advertiser boycott "could be fatal" https://t.co/beBcgsU6fu
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) March 31, 2018
she was suspended, and after much reflection, she'll resign.
— Liberal America (@Song4Jazz) March 31, 2018
Huffpost reported that the list of companies boycotting Ingraham's program included:
Nutrish, the pet food line created by celebrity chef Rachael Ray, travel website TripAdvisor Inc, online home furnishings seller Wayfair Inc, the world's largest packaged food company, Nestle SA, online streaming service Hulu, travel website Expedia Group Inc and online personal shopping service Stitch Fix.
Ingraham tried to apologize to David after it became clear her advertisers were fleeing the program.
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
In an interview with CNN, Hogg chose not to accept Ingraham's apology.
I think it's great that corporate America is standing with me and the rest of my friends. When you come against any one of us -- whether it be me or anybody else -- you're coming against all of us.
I think it's important that we stand together as both corporate and civic America to take action against these people and show them that they cannot push us around, especially when all we're trying to do here is save lives. I think it's really disgusting, the fact that she basically tried promoting her show after apologizing to me.
Time will tell whether history will repeat itself. Ingraham's days on television could be numbered...
Both Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity took "vacations" as advertisers fled their programs
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) March 31, 2018
... One came back — One did not. pic.twitter.com/CvQ5YTc0ih