Tucker Carlson Loses Major Advertiser After Immigration Comments

Tucker Carlson made some extreme remarks about immigrants entering the United States on Thursday, and as a result, Pacific Life insurance paused its advertising deal with the Fox News host.

Carlson is no stranger to controversy. The anchor has been known to say inflammatory things before, yet Thursday’s broadcast put even the advertisers who have stuck with him this long on edge. Carlson railed against the insistence on humanitarian treatment of immigrants — both legal and illegal — claiming that it made the United States “dirtier.”

“We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us,” Carlson fumed, “even if it makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided.”

It appears the massive insurance company Pacific Life paused all advertising with Carlson shortly after that show. The company issued a statement on Twitter saying that its ads would disappear from Carlson’s show for at least a few weeks.

“One of our ads appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show last night following a segment where Mr. Carlson made a number of statements regarding immigration,” the statement read. “As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in. We will not be advertising on Mr. Carlson’s show in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program.”

Fox News, for its part, stood behind Carlson on this statement. The channels’ SVP of Eastern Ad Sales, Dom Rossi, issued a statement that same day that indicated Carlson would face no repercussions for his racist rhetoric.

“It is a shame that political pressure groups, under the guise of ‘media watchdogs,’ weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech,” the statement read. “We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.”

Pacific Life has only been advertising on Carlson’s show for “just over one year,” according to a spokesman who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter. The company does not advertise on any other Fox News shows at this time. Other advertisers said that they would continue to promote their products on Carlson’s show, but that this should not be taken as an “endorsement” of his content.

Carlson has not yet faced a serious advertising boycott, though his co-worker, Laura Ingraham, hs lost a number of major advertisers since her disparaging comments about Parkland, Florida school shooting survivor David Hogg.