[F]ans are destroying their Keurig coffee makers after the Waterbury-based company pulled ads from Sean Hannity’s radio show for defending Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
On Thursday, The Washington Post published an article revealing that Moore made sexual advances toward teenage girls as young as 14 when he was in his 30’s and an assistant district attorney in Alabama. Hannity cast doubt on the allegations on his radio show, which aired Nov. 9, the same day the Post published its story.
“I just don’t know how you find the truth,” the conservative host said on the show. He said Moore’s relationships with the girls were “consensual,” though Hannity later apologized for those statements.
Following Hannity’s Nov. 9 radio show, several companies pulled their ads from his Fox News slot, Keurig among them. Keurig’s official Twitter account responded to multiple tweets asking about the Hannity ads, and responded with generally the same message simply saying Keurig had pulled their ads.
Realtor.com, ELOQUII, 23andMe, Nature’s Bounty, and E*Trade are among the other brands that stopped running ads on Hannity’s show.
Keurig did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and staffers at Keurig call centers are being told to give reporters covering the story no comment.
Hannity fans lit up Twitter with the hashtag #BoycottKeurig, and some posted a video of them destroying their coffee makers. Before initially egging on fans via his Twitter account, Hannity called for calm and asked fans to stop retaliating on his radio show Monday.
.@Keurig made a decision to pull ads from the @seanhannity show.
This decision is disgusting, and will not be tolerated.
Regardless of any response, I am done with you, Keurig.
You will regret this decision. #BreakYourKeurig #IStandWithHannity pic.twitter.com/qQ9BFkgzlS
— Mike (@Fuctupmind) November 12, 2017
The Post later published a company-wide email sent from Keurig CEO Bob Gamgort. The New York Times also managed to confirm through a company spokesperson that the email was accurate.
Gamgort wrote that the company Twitter account acted “outside of company protocols” when it responded to questions about pulling ads from Hannity’s show. He also left the door open to restarting advertising on Hannity’s show .
“In most situations such as this one, we would ‘pause’ our advertising on that particular program and reevaluate our go-forward strategy,” Gamgort wrote. “This gave the appearance of ‘taking sides’ in an emotionally charged debate that escalated on Twitter and beyond over the weekend.”
The message gave no details on how the company would change its social media practices, save for saying the company would respond faster to controversy. He also apologized to employees who feel they may have been caught up in the politically-charged situation.
Since the Post published the article revealing Moore’s advances, another woman has come forward accusing Moore of sexual assault, and the New Yorker reported Monday that in the 80’s, a mall banned Moore for his repeated pursuit of teenage girls.
Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are asking Moore, a Republican, to step aside in his bid for a Alabama U.S. Senate seat.
