Laura Ingraham Apologizes for Mocking David Hogg—Right After Companies Pull Advertising

The Fox News host described her uncharacteristic humility as in the “spirit of Holy Week.”

TripAdvisor and Rachael Ray’s pet food brand Nutrish have become the first companies to announce that they will stop advertising on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show, after the host taunted David Hogg, the 18-year-old high school senior who has become one of the most prominent voices in the student movement for gun control action, for getting rejected by a string of California colleges. 

Ingraham has been under intense fire for reacting to a video interview with Hogg, in which he briefly discussed his disappointment with the rejections. But Hogg said that he wasn’t surprised: “I think there’s a lot of amazing people that don’t get into college, not only [who] do things that I do, but because their voices just aren’t heard in the tsunami of people that apply to colleges in such an impacted school system here in America.”

Somehow, Ingraham portrayed Hogg’s remarks as whining. 

“In our view, these statements focused on a high school student, cross the line of decency,” a spokesperson for the popular travel site told CNBC on Thursday. “As such, we have made a decision to stop advertising on that program.”

Nutrish on Thursday posted a tweet responding directly to a boycott list Hogg had created naming Ingraham’s top advertisers to announce its decision to pull advertising from Ingraham’s show.

Shortly after her loss of two sponsors, Ingraham issued an apology on Twitter and invited Hogg to return to her show to discuss the gun debate. The host attributed her contrition to “the spirit of Holy Week.” 

This is how change happens.

One story at a time.

This investigative reporting takes time too. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

So, we’re asking: Will you join the fight? Mother Jones has been here for 50 years, and we need your support to fuel the future of investigative journalism. Mark our 50th anniversary with a gift of any amount.

This is how change happens.

One story at a time.

This investigative reporting takes time too. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

So, we’re asking: Will you join the fight? Mother Jones has been here for 50 years, and we need your support to fuel the future of investigative journalism. Mark our 50th anniversary with a gift of any amount.

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

INDEPENDENT. BECAUSE OF YOU.

Mother Jones has no billionaires calling the shots—just readers like you making fearless reporting possible

Donate