A month after Fox News fired its biggest
star, Bill O’Reilly, following pressure from advertisers and advocacy groups surrounding allegations of sexual harassment, another of the network's top personalities, Sean Hannity, is facing a
new advertising boycott.
And he is not backing down -- although Fox News is publicly distancing itself from the conspiratorial rant that has put him in the crosshairs of a campaign to oust him
from the network. “Not giving up at all,” @seanhannity tweeted this morning, adding: “I’m working harder than ever to get the truth the family wants and deserves. Stay
tuned.”
The family Hannity referred to presumably is Seth Rich’s, a former Democratic National Committee staffer who was murdered in 2016. Rich has become the subject of
a right-wing conspiracy theory being promoted by Hannity and others, even though Rich’s family has been pleading to tamp it down.
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On Tuesday, Fox News retracted a version of the story
published on its Web site, stating: "On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected
to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.”
As
tepid as the retraction might seem, it comes amid a massive restructuring of Fox News in the wake of the ousting of its founder, the late Roger Ailes, O’Reilly and other senior managers from its
glory days of right-wing TV news sensationalism.
The retraction has not deterred Hannity from continuing to promote and allude to new big scoops looming about Rich's murder. Or from tweeting
about his tenacity to his base of followers, although Rich's family continues to plead with him to stop.
The family publicly thanked Fox News for its retraction.
Meanwhile, Media
Matters has seized on the moment to shed new light and pressure on brands that sponsor and advertise on Fox News’ “The Sean Hannity Show.”
“Just retracting the one
online story hardly undoes the damage Fox News -- and specifically Sean Hannity -- has done by pushing baseless conspiracy theories about Rich's death,” Media Matters wrote in a newsletter
published Tuesday, continuing: “For the past week, Hannity and his colleagues have repeatedly pushed the evidence-free conspiracy theory that former Democratic staffer Seth Rich was murdered for
providing WikiLeaks with emails from the Democratic National Committee.”
It also published the following list of advertisers sponsoring his show on Fox News, which include many big
blue-chip brands:
Here are Hannity’s primary advertisers:
Alfa Romeo
Allstate
Angie’s List
AstraZeneca
Bayer
Blink
Health
Boehringer Ingelheim
Booking.com
Capital One
Casper
Consumer Cellular
DirecTV
ExxonMobil
Harvest Right
Hewlett Packard
Enterprise
Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical
Hulu
Hyundai
Jenny Craig
John Deere
Liberty Mutual
LoanDepot
Mercedes-Benz
Mitsubishi
Nutrisystem
Optum
PC Matic
ProFlowers
Publishers Clearing House
Sandals
Shari’s Berries
Terminix
UNTUCKit
Vanda
Pharmaceuticals
Here Are Hannity’s Other Advertisers
AC Pro
Allergan
American Petroleum Institute
Amerifit
Armor
All
AT&T
Athene
Atkins
Audi
Australian Dream
Avis
BASF
Bass Pro Shops
Bath Fitter
Bausch + Lomb
Beaches
Resorts
Blue-Emu
Bounty
CA Technologies
Cars.com
Cascade
Centrum
CenturyLink
Chamonix
Charles Tyrwhitt
Charmin
Chattem
Cialis
ClearChoice
Comedy Central
Crowne Plaza
Donald J. Trump for President
DR Power Equipment
Dr. Scholl’s
Duracell
Ebates
eHarmony
Eli Lilly and Company
Expedia
Fabletics
Ferndale Healthcare
Fixodent
Fleet Labs
Freshpet
Geico
Gilead Sciences
GlaxoSmithKline
GoDaddy
GoodRx
Grasshopper
HomeAdvisor
HomeLight
HomeToGo.com
IBM
Indeed
Intel
Infiniti
Jaguar
Jardiance
JoC. A. Bank Clothiers
JustFab
Kerasal
Kia
Kingdom
La Quinta
Leesa Sleep
LendingTree
Lexus
magicJack
Marie Callender's
Mattress Firm
Men’s Wearhouse
Microsoft
Miracle-Ear
My Pillow
Navy
Federal Credit Union
Nissan
Novartis
NRA Foundation
Orkin
Oscar Mayer
OurTime
Panera Bread
Peloton
Pfizer
Phazyme Gas
and Acid
Preen
Principal
Quincy Bioscience
Quten IP Holdings, LLC
Raid
Reddi Wip
Reelz
Ring.com
RockAuto
Safelite
Sea-Bond
ServPro
Scotts
Sirius XM
Sleep Number
SoClean
Soothe XP
Stanley Steemer
Stein Mart
Subaru
SuperBeets
Super Beta Prostate
Swiffer
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
TD Ameritrade
Tempur-Pedic
Touchnote
TruStage
United Milage Plus Explorer Card
USAA
Varidesk
Venus
Viking River Cruises
Visiting Angels
Vistaprint
Vonage
Wagner OEX
Wax-Rx
WeatherTech
Zenni
Optical
ZeroWater
"This advertiser list covers the period between May 1 and May 23. This list will be updated regularly," Media Matters said.
