VIDEO: More Limbaugh advertisers cut support, while some businesses get caught in crossfire
Rush Limbaugh is back-pedaling, trying to stem the flow of advertisers from his program and apologize for his comments about Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke. (Photo from AP video.)
Rush Limbaugh’s incendiary comments about Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke, calling her a slut and implying she was a prostitute, have cost his show more advertisers.
According to the Associated Press, at least 11 advertisers have halted advertising on the syndicated talk show, in the face of an organized effort to boycott and shame advertisers who continue to support Limbaugh’s show. AOL, Heart & Body Extract, Bonobos and Tax Resolution Services Co. have all canceled their ads, joining ProFlowers and Quicken Loans and five other companies that will no longer air during the show.
Limbaugh did apologize on Monday for his comments, but so far his words, rare in that he even apologized, have not stemmed the tide of defections.
“I should not have used the language I did, and it was wrong,” Limbaugh said on his show.
So far, however, Clear Channel, which has a contract to distribute Limbaugh through 2016, has given no sign that it will pull support for the show, the AP reported.
The boycott has also swept up companies who never intended to advertise on Limbaugh’s show. According to the Chicago Tribune, both Sears and Allstate had commercials air during the show on at least one station, though it was always, at least in the companies’ case, accidental.
On Twitter, Sears sought to calm the storm that built up around them: “Sears and Kmart did not intentionally advertise on the Rush Limbaugh show. We’ve taken actions to ensure our ads do not run on this show.”
And Allstate, which the Tribune said avoids advertising on anything that could be in any way controversial, also sought to distance itself from Limbaugh.
“We contacted the vendor that arranges for our advertising placements and discovered that an error had been made and advertising time had been mistakenly purchased for the show,” Allstate said to the Tribune.