Advertisers Dump ‘Fox News’ Sean Hannity After He Called Sexual Allegations Against Roy Moore ‘Consensual’
Fox News’ Sean Hannity has been dumped by at least two of his advertisers for his much-panned coverage of the sexual allegations against Judge Roy Moore, who is running for Senate on a Republican ticket in the red state of Alabama.
Earlier this week, the Washington Post published a report in which four women alleged that Judge Moore molested them or behaved inappropriately with them while he worked as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office in his thirties, and when they were still in their teens. One woman, Leigh Corfman, said that he made her touch his penis when she was 14. The allegations brought about a storm both in Washington and Alabama with only a month to go before the election, with Republicans scrambling either to distance themselves from Roy Moore, or not surprisingly enough, defend him by questioning the credibility of the accusers.
Right-wing media darling Sean Hannity interviewed Roy Moore on his radio program, during which the former judge flat-out denied the veracity of the sexual allegations, and claimed that it was a conspiracy hatched by the Democrats and/or establishment Republicans in order to win a Senate race in a state where Democrats have not won since 1992. Hannity, who was a staunch supporter of Moore’s candidacy, was criticized for letting the judge escape with flimsy defenses, even though he admitted that he was in a habit of dating a “lot of young ladies” during his thirties, reports Vice News.
“Hannity expressed doubt that the allegations against Moore, now 70, were true, saying ‘there are false allegations made’ and suggested that some accusations may be made for ‘political reasons.’ According to the transcript, Hannity also appears to suggest that Moore’s alleged 1979 encounter with the teen was ‘consensual.'”
Please note that #SeanHannity's daughter is ** 15 ** years old. So he'd be on the "It's consensual" bandwagon if she was getting hit on by one of his middleage buddies? ? https://t.co/iOlp3Sd49s
— CJ Topher ?????? (@CJ_FightPD) November 10, 2017
More advertisers are dropping Sean Hannity https://t.co/GmOq4AsBvP pic.twitter.com/fiBgX4s5uv
— Media Matters (@mmfa) November 11, 2017
Following this, Hannity was widely panned for his defense as social media users and other journalists called him out for his hypocrisy while dealing with the sexual allegations of a candidate whom he was deeply invested in. And now, after a long and concentrated campaign by left-wing media group Media Matters, it appears Sean Hannity is beginning to lose his advertisers, as reported by The Hill.
“Realtor.com and Keurig both said they are stopping their ads from airing during the show after being questioned about the advertisements on Twitter. Neither company specifically said their decision was over Moore coverage, but only made the announcement in response to critics.”
Although the companies which dumped Hannity did not mention the reasons for doing so, but it is widely understood that Hannity’s “consensual” remark and continued defense of Judge Roy Moore was the tipping point for the advertisers.
https://twitter.com/realtordotcom/status/929422915111661568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fmedia%2F359956-advertisers-distance-themselves-from-hannity-after-moore-interview
Hi there! Hannity is blocked from our advertising list. If we can help with anything else, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at social@eloquii.com.
— ELOQUII (@ELOQUII) November 10, 2017
Angelo, thank you for your concern and for bringing this to our attention. We worked with our media partner and FOX news to stop our ad from airing during the Sean Hannity Show.
— Keurig (@Keurig) November 11, 2017
[Featured Image by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images]
