Laura Ingraham will spend a week away from her nightly Fox News program after after nearly a dozen advertisers withdrew their support over her recent comments about school shooting survivor and anti-gun violence activist David Hogg.
“I’ll be off next week for Easter break with my kids, but fear not, we’ve got a great lineup of guest hosts to fill in for me,” the conservative commentator said during Friday’s episode of “The Ingraham Angle.”
A Fox News spokesperson *confirmed Saturday that the vacation was preplanned.
Ms. Ingraham, 54, made the announcement amid facing a firestorm brought on by her recent remarks about Mr. Hogg, 17, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who survived the Feb. 14 massacre that claimed 17 lives in Parkland, Florida. Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former Stoneman Douglas student, has been charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. He is being held without bond.
“David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it,” Ms. Ingraham tweeted Wednesday this week. “Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.”
Mr. Hogg subsequently urged companies to pull their ads from “The Ingraham Angle,” and at least 11 sponsors — Hulu, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Stitch Fix, Wayfair, TripAdvisor, Expedia, the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and Nutrish pet foods — have announced plans to pull their ads as of Friday afternoon, The Hill reported.
SEE ALSO: David Hogg rejects Laura Ingraham apology after calling for advertiser boycott
“I hope she uses this time to reflect not only on how she treated me but so many others like the students at Dartmouth or even people like LeBron James,” Mr. Hogg told the New York Daily News on the topic of Ms. Ingraham’s Easter break.
Fox News did not immediately comment on the announcement.
Ms. Ingraham apologized for her initial remark Thursday, tweeting: “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.”
Mr. Hogg rejected her apology and tweeted: “I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children.”
* (Editor’s note: The story has been updated to include a Fox News spokesperson’s confirmation that the vacation was preplanned.)
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.