Fox anchor says sorry for taunting survivor
Shooting survivor Hogg says he’s accustomed to being criticised
Laura Ingraham, a Fox News host, apologised under pressure yesterday for taunting a survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, as at least five companies confirmed they would pull advertising from her show.
The dispute began on Wednesday when Ingraham shared an article about the student, David Hogg, 17, getting rejected from colleges and accused him of whining about it.
Ingraham wrote: “David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA ... totally predictable given acceptance rates.)”
In response, Hogg, who has rapidly become a prominent advocate for gun-control policies, called on Ingraham’s advertisers to boycott her show. Five of the companies, TripAdvisor, Wayfair, Hulu, Nestle and Nutrish, said on Thursday they would pull their ads. A sixth, Expedia, said it had recently pulled its advertising but declined to say when.
As news of the boycotts began coming out on Thursday, Ingraham apologised.
She wrote: “Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA — incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologise 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 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.”
Hogg said he was unimpressed by her apology. “She only apologised after we went after her advertisers,” he said. “It kind of speaks for itself.”
Hogg said he has grown accustomed to being criticised, often ruthlessly. But to hear a prominent television host mock his college rejections was “extremely frustrating,” he said.
“I’m not going to stoop to her level and go after her on a personal level,” he said. “I’m going to go after her advertisers.”