Facing Boycott, Laura Ingraham Apologizes For Taunting Parkland Teen Over College Rejections
Facing Boycott, Laura Ingraham Apologizes For Taunting Parkland Teen Over College Rejections
When Fox News host Laura Ingraham taunted a Parkland shooting survivor in a Wednesday- morning tweet about his college applications being rejected, Twitter users hit back where it hurt most: among her advertisers.
David Hogg, the 17-year-old high school senior who has become a gun-control activist, mustered the collective power of social media — and his more than 630,000 Twitter followers — and urged them to “tweet away” at her top sponsors to call on them to boycott her TV show, “The Ingraham Angle.”
✔ @davidhogg111Soooo @ IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers ... Asking for a friend. # BoycottIngramAdverts
Within 24 hours, several companies responded — among them the pet food brand Nutrish and the home goods retailer Wayfair — announcing over Twitter and in media interviews that they would pull their ads from Ingraham’s show.
By Thursday afternoon, Ingraham apologized. “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,” she tweeted.
✔ @IngrahamAngle
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) 1:06 PM - Mar 29, 2018
In the era of boycotts as a byproduct of outrage, with figures such as President Trump threatening the NFL over player protests and airline customers employing the tactic to force change, Hogg’s push for Ingraham’s advertisers to respond to her comments worked remarkably quickly.
The swift results showcase the power that the Parkland survivors have, not just in organizing rallies but in spurring corporate America to act. Brands, too, have become quicker to distance themselves from controversy, whether by denouncing white supremacy after neo-Nazis praise their products or by pulling their sponsorship after another Fox News personality, Bill O’Reilly, was accused of sexual harassment.
Since the 2016 election, calls to boycott retailers have become frequent: The #GrabYourWallet campaign began as a way to protest Trump, and it identified companies that carried merchandise bearing the Trump name. Those calls have been met with equally passionate responses by Trump supporters who say they are determined to use their buying power to stand with the president and his family.
On Thursday, #GrabYourWallet co-founder Shannon Coulter called Ingraham’s mocking of Hogg’s college rejections “really egregious violations of basic human decency.”
“Corporate America has a really positive role to play in preventing that kind of targeted harassment,” Coulter said. “It’s not just that one tweet. It’s that [Ingraham is] signaling to her large audience that it’s okay to do that. Particularly when minors are concerned, I think there’s a line that corporations can draw that apparently Laura Ingraham’s parents didn’t draw.”
Ingraham, in addition to apologizing, tried to curtail the damage by noting that Hogg had appeared on her show after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.
Hogg said he felt the apology was merely an effort to save her advertisers.
“I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight,” Hogg tweeted. “It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children.”
Hogg has been one of the most vocal, speaking at the March for Our Lives rally against gun violence in Washington. Since the shooting, the teen has appeared frequently on television and rallied his growing number of Twitter followers to become civically engaged if they are frustrated with the status quo.
In an interview with TMZ on Tuesday, Hogg spoke about receiving rejection letters from California colleges. Hogg, who has a 4.2 GPA and an SAT score of 1270, was accepted to Florida Atlantic University, California Polytechnic State University and California State University at San Marcos, TMZ reported.
On Wednesday morning, Ingraham tweeted a story from a conservative news site that described Hogg as a “Gun Rights Provocateur” who had not gained acceptance to four University of California schools.
“David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it,” Ingraham tweeted. “(Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.)”
Several companies soon responded to the boycott call.
“We are in the process of removing our ads from Laura Ingraham’s program,” Nutrish tweeted Thursday morning.
TripAdvisor pointed to one of its company values — “We are better together” — in its decision to stop advertising on Ingraham’s show.
“We do not . . . condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster,” TripAdvisor said in a statement. “In our view, these statements focused on a high school student cross the line of decency.”
Online home goods retailer Wayfair told CNBC that Ingraham’s personal criticism of Hogg was “not consistent with our values.”
Nestlé told ThinkProgress it had no plans to buy future ads on the show.
It was unclear whether any of the brands would change their minds after Ingraham apologized.
“We’ve seen corporations years ago pull out from O’Reilly, only to go back and have to pull out again,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color Of Change, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing corporations on issues of racial justice.
“The question is, if the corporations do go back, what are they sponsoring? They are sponsoring someone who will use the next tragedy to attack the most vulnerable,” Robinson said. “Laura Ingraham would not exist without corporations enabling her to exist on the air.”
Ingraham was previously criticized for telling professional basketball players to “ shut up and dribble ” after Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James criticized Trump in an interview.
While Ingraham has been the most recent target of criticism, she is not the only prominent figure who has faced backlash for attacking the high school students.
Just days ago, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and his campaign team were sharply criticized for posting a meme on Facebook about Emma González, another Parkland student and activist. The meme was decried as attacking González’s Cuban heritage.
And CNN contributor and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum had to backtrack after saying students would be better off learning CPR than demonstrating for tighter gun laws.
The American People are fed up with the alt-right's constant lying attacks upon young Parkland survivors...
No they are not...Ms Ingraham hit the nail on its politically correct head by simply telling the truth about him. Hogg should be smashed down like a Whack-A-Potty-Mouth-Liberal-Twat that he is. He's going to turn out to be yet another gift to the Republicans for politically exploiting the survivors of a tragedy. His whole spiel is obviously written, coached, and paid for by the far left.
We can vote with our dollars but more importantly we can vote with our votes. #can the damn gop 11-06-18...
So what? The advertisers can do what they want but some folks just need to grow a thicker skin.
And a 4.2 grade point? WTF?
I remember when 4.0 was the best score you could get. Occasionally a teacher would offer extra credit to perhaps raise a grade to 4.0 but that was still the best you could do. One might get extra stars or smiley faces in grade school or one could get good chits in the Corps to make your eval better but never 4.0+ in anything that was graded. I got a bunch of 100% PFT scores but never a 102%
We now have at least one generation that EXPECTS 4.0+ and participation trophys for just showing up.
God help us all .....
In big schools there are so many strait A students they have to have some extra point system to determine things like Valedictorian. It is an issue even in small towns. An A Plius beats and plain olde A. It has long been so butt unless you or your kids were competing for the top academic honors at some high school you probably didn't know...
An A+ is a 4.0. There is no scale accepted above that, plain and simple. You saying that in big schools there are so many straight A students that and addiitonal point system is needed, kind of makes one wonder about what is being taught and what level of expectation is acceptable.
Thank you JBB for the usual "thinly veiled" sophomoric snide comment. Nice to know some things never change.
That said, i never said i'd never seen this 4.0+ trend, just that i think it's ridiculous. One of my nephews agrees. Like many kids of that generation he went through your "education 4.0+" and he's now a Nuclear Engineering officer in the US Navy.
So i would hazard to guess that my kid is a lot smarter than yours. Oops, maybe that makes him a 5.0+ eh?
I didn't make it up. This isn't about you or your feelings. I just told you how some come up above 4.0 GPAs.
A very low level, especially when you consider how much easier to get a 4.0 these days when you factor in the number of idiot teachers who grade on a curve just to make themselves look better.
Students should be graded on what they have learned period, not how well they do compared to other students. It's a system that lies to the kids about their academic abilities and paints a false impression on how good a teacher is.
Hogg is a victim that is still being victimized. Not by the right, by the left who will milk him for all the publicity they can get and then let him fade into being nothing more than a footnote in the annals of political stratagems.
Was Ingraham really wrong? If so why? If Hogg were 19 would she still be wrong? Is Hogg a child? If he were the shooter would the left be demanding that he be tried as a juvenile or an adult? If Hogg was a 17 year old "kid" who was getting up in front of a national audience and demanding that the 2nd Amendment be preserved would the left treat him with "kid" gloves or would they form disruptive demonstrations to keep him from speaking freely on campuses and in the public forum?
Elsewhere, I read that there are people forming up to boycott these same companies for their political stance in removing their support from Laura Ingraham. Looks like they will be losing business from both sides-that's what happens when a corporation decides it needs to make a political statement.
Boycotts rarely if ever work. Laura Ingraham is hot commodity on FOX, and other advertisers will simply replace the few cowards who quit. They knew going in what she believes in and how edgy she can be.
I have read, and have been told 'he' is a kid, and 'she' is the adult ... 'he' used the power of the pen (twitter) more successfully than 'she' did, because he is smart, a gun control activist on a national stage calling for gun reform "Never Again" - the 'self' proclaimed 'Leader of the Pack' (so to speak) ... but do not forget 'he' is a kid ... be an adult, because 'he' is a kid (okay point taken) 'he' is a kid.
I am curious of one thing - is this the future that is to be looked forward to? Explain how 'kids' (I thought 'he/they' were young adults, but I have had to concede that 'he/they' are kids) are going to change the world .. 'he' calls on 'his' twitter followers to tweet the advertisers of the 'adults' TV show in order to ..... ? Do what exactly - stop someone from saying 'not so nice' things about him? Good thing 'he' (the kid) did not cry 'fake news' .. because what 'she' (the adult) said was truthful .. 'she' was just being mean to the kid though?
I really do not care what Hogg has to say .. and I barely know who Laura Ingraham's even is (so her message is lost on me) .. yet this is the future that is being applauded .. "kids" shutting down the messages of the messengers that 'he/they' think are being mean (or do not agree with) - I will show you (kind of thing) ??? a very Trump'spirian (new word) way of approaching life, it would seem to me.
Glad my 17 year old is a young adult (not a kid) - making his own decisions, and speaking his mind .. taking the criticism that comes his way as a learning experience and continues to move forward in support of what he believes in ... I am very proud of him!
This "kid" is obviously being totally controlled by the higher ups in the left wing hierarchy. We've seen it all before...exploiting children for political profit. And he is not a "kid" anymore.
That is all supposition. Until proven, he is just a kid. And most kids are influenced by the adults around them. Does that make them not kids? Did you not influence your kids? I know I did.
I don't say much on this site. But as a teacher for over 20 years and a parent, I hate it when people go after children. You don't have to agree with their POV, but they are developing into adulthood, and are should be allowed to express themselves, so long as they are not being rude.
We agree to disagree!
I cannot say that I agree with idea that 'he' is being controlled by anyone, the talking points have been floating around for years .. 'he' has spoken out before the Parkland shooting took place. After hearing 'him' speak, I am willing to bet this is a topic that he has rehearsed for a debate .. 'his' statements sound like a 'kid' that has practiced in the mirror for a Lincoln - Douglas style debate for school (memorizing the morals, values and logic of gun control v. gun ownership rights.)
After the Parkland mass shooting .. 'he' has risen to a national level debate - yet it is a debate that he does not desire to have ... just my opinion, but it would seem that 'he' feels 'he' is right and those that speak out against 'him' need to be silenced, as they are wrong .... The "Never Again" movements self proclaimed leader .. is a tad 'drunk' with power - perhaps?
Hey Perrie .. my only issue is the terminology 'kids' (and I admit, I have gone a bit overboard with the use of 'kid' in my comment) ... these are young people / adults that are speaking their minds and trying to influence a nation to follow their beliefs. There is going to be backlash (Ingraham's is rude on a good day from what I have heard) and these young people/adults have to deal with what comes around.
I guess I am trying to say .. I do not like the bully factor that goes with Social media (twitter) - not from 'our' president, politicians, press nor from young people / adults .. just not a good message to send to the 'children' - "if someone is mean to you, just get on social media and show them."
Twitter was banned from my household as soon as it came out .. for a reason..
Hope your day is a sweet one .. snowing in the mountains that surround me today - Ummm YAY? : )