Politics

Advertisers – including TripAdvisor, Nestle, Wayfair and Hulu – are dumping Laura Ingraham after she slammed Parkland survivor

Key Points
  • TripAdvisor will pull its advertisements from right-wing television host Laura Ingraham's Fox News program.
  • In a tweet, Ingraham mocked a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting in February that left 17 students and adults dead.
  • The survivor-turned-activist, David Hogg, responded on Twitter by calling on his followers to contact Ingraham's top advertisers.
  • Ingraham later tweeted her apologies "for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland."
Companies pulls ads from Laura Ingraham's show
VIDEO2:1202:12
Companies pulls ads from Laura Ingraham's show

A growing list of advertisers decided to cut ties with right-wing television host Laura Ingraham on Thursday after she tweeted insults about a survivor of the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Office Depot was one of the latest companies to pull ads from Ingraham's show. "We will no longer advertise with The Laura Ingraham Show moving forward," a company spokesperson said.

Thursday evening, the streaming service Hulu announced it would no longer advertize on the show.

Hulu statement

Johnson & Johnson also said in a Thursday statement that it had "pulled our advertising from Ms. Ingraham's show."

Earlier, candy maker Nestle also said it would stop advertising on Ingraham's show. "We have no plans to buy ads on the show in the future," a company spokesperson told CNBC.

A spokesman for online travel website TripAdvisor said the company does not "condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster."

"In our view, these statements focused on a high school student, cross the line of decency. As such, we have made a decision to stop advertising on that program," the spokesperson said.

Parkland survivor David Hogg tells followers to boycott Laura Ingraham's sponsors
VIDEO0:4900:49
Parkland survivor David Hogg tells followers to boycott Laura Ingraham's sponsors

Ingraham, in two tweets, apologized Thursday afternoon for "any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland."

"As always, he's welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion," she added.

Ingraham 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)

Ingraham ... 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://youtu.be/K0v7yxczipo (2/2)

Earlier Thursday, pet food company Nutrish said in a tweet that it is "in the process of removing our ads from Laura Ingraham's program."

And online travel site Expedia told CNBC it "no longer advertises on this show," adding "we have pulled the advertising."

Later Thursday, online home goods company Wayfair told CNBC that it plans to stop advertising on Ingraham's program over the tweet.

"As a company, we support open dialogue and debate on issues. However, the decision of an adult to personally criticize a high school student who has lost his classmates in an unspeakable tragedy is not consistent with our values," Wayfair's head of public relations, Jane Carpenter, told CNBC.

"We do not plan to continue advertising on this particular program," Carpenter said.

Ingraham is the host of "The Ingraham Angle," an evening news and opinion show on Fox News.

The companies were responding to a controversy over a tweet sent by Ingraham on Wednesday appearing to mock David Hogg, a survivor of the February massacre that left 17 students and adults dead.

"David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it," Ingraham said in the tweet.

She added that Hogg was "Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rates."

Ingraham tweet

In the wake of the massacre, the 17-year-old student has become a prominent voice in a resurgent debate on mass shootings and gun control measures.

Hogg, responding to her criticism in a tweet of his own, called on his more than 600,000 followers to contact Ingraham's top advertisers.

Hogg Tweet

The other companies listed in Hogg's tweet did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Shortly after Ingraham's apology, Hogg tweeted that he would only accept it "if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight."

Hogg tweet denounce

— CNBC's Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this report.