MATT GERTZ: We've been calling on advertisers to back away from Hannity for several months now, largely because we think that he's become more or less a propaganda outlet for the White House. He's very close to the president. We know that he, according to many reports, advises him regularly and for all intents and purposes, he is providing a mouthpiece for the president's world view. On many occasions, such as when he calls for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, to step down, we think that this is infringing on the rule of law in ways that we think advertisers should be very uncomfortable about.
CAROL COSTELLO (HOST): So, I just wanted to get into the companies that have pulled their advertising from Hannity's shows: Realtor.com, Nature's Bounty, 23andMe, and Keurig, right?
GERTZ: Keurig is the big one, and Hannity has been engaged in a pretty vigorous counter-boycott ever since they came forward.
COSTELLO: So, does that hurt Keurig? How do you see that?
GERTZ: I think that, if anything, it shows that advertisers should be extremely wary about being in a business relationship with Sean Hannity and his programs. What he's showing is that he is volatile and unstable, and if advertisers back away from him, he's going to fight back and punch back really hard. This is especially interesting because Keurig hasn't separated itself from Fox News altogether. They don't want any part of Sean Hannity, but they are happy to have their advertisements play on other programs on Fox News. So, Hannity is basically in an ongoing war now with one of Fox's advertisers over whether or not they should be advertising on his specific program. It's bad news for Fox News.
