Volvo pulled ads from a Fox News show after the host defended Roy Moore
In an act of public protest, Volvo pulled its ads from The Sean Hannity Show on Fox News after Hannity appeared to defend Roy Moore, the Alabama politician accused of making sexual advances on teenagers when he was in his early 30s.
On November 9th, four women came forward to allege that the Republican candidate for the Alabama Senate race pursued them when they were underage — one of the women stated that she was only 14 years old. On November 13th, a fifth woman said that Moore had pursued her when she was 16.
Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations against him, but last week, on Hannity’s show, he said he dated “a lot of young ladies” in the ’70s, when he was in his 30s. Hannity later spoke out in defense of Moore.
"With the allegations against Judge Moore, none of us know the truth of what happened 38 years ago," he said. "The only people that would know are the people involved in this incident."
Hannity was further criticized for describing Moore’s behavior as “consensual,” though he later apologized. In his statement, Hannity added that if the allegations are true, Moore should end his campaign for Senate.
In a since-deleted tweet, Volvo confirmed that it had stopped advertising with Hannity, though the company did not specifically say why. “We have spoken with our media team and have advised them to cease advertising on the show,” the tweet read.
Volvo is not the first company to retract ads from Hannity’s show. Keurig pulled the plug on their advertisements after the incident as well. In response, Hannity’s fans have been smashing Keurig coffeemakers and #BoycottKeurig is now trending on Twitter.
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
The website realtor.com, genetic testing company 23 and Me, and vitamin manufacturer Nature’s Bounty are also among the companies that have opted to boycott Hannity at this time.
We’re heartened to see big companies taking a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual misconduct, and we will continue to monitor these stories as they unfold.
