Advertisers drop Fox New's Hannity as DNC conspiracy theory could see it go the way of the O'Reilly Factor
Top-listed Fox News presenter Sean Hannity is facing an ad exodus as a result of him leaning heavily on a discredited conspiracy theory about the murder of a member of a DNC staff member.
Sean Hannity on the Hannity hour
The top paid host on the news network has invoked the ire of a number of advertisers for claiming that DNC staff Seth Rich was murdered in his Washington home for supplying WikiLeaks with emails, clashing with a claim from the police that it was a botched robbery.
Cars.com, Leesa Sleep, Peloton, USAA, Crown Plaza Hotels, Casper and Ring, told Washington Post and Buzzfeed that they were no longer backing the show.
On its decision to pull out, Cars.com said: "The fact that we advertise on a particular program doesn't mean that we agree or disagree, or support or oppose, the content. We don't have the ability to influence content at the time we make our advertising purchase. In this case, we've been watching closely and have recently made the decision to pull our advertising from Hannity."
Fox News has since retracted a piece claiming that Rich had contacted WikiLeaks before his desk. Furthermore, following an email from Rich’s family urging the broadcaster to stop spreading the rumour, that was also propagated by Mega owner Kim Dot Com, Hannity has shelved his broadcast, but not his investigation, of the claims.
Ok TO BE CLEAR, I am closer to the TRUTH than ever. Not only am I not stopping, I am working harder. Updates when available. Stay tuned!
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) May 24, 2017
It comes after the O'Reilly Factor was essentially suspended after advertisers pulled out of the slot in response to a multitude of sexual harassment accusations against host Bill O'Reilly that emerged last year.