Hannity Whines As Seth Rich Conspiracy Theories Spur Boycott

By Daniel J. Solomon May 24, 2017

After a week in which he propagated conspiracy theories about the death of Seth Rich, Fox News host Sean Hannity now says that he’s the victim, pointing to an advertiser boycott effort against his primetime program.

Spoke to many advertisers. They are being inundated with Emails to stop advertising on my show. This is Soros/Clinton/Brock liberal fascism https://t.co/WRCzfWVs9N

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) May 24, 2017

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Hannity’s Twitter missive came in response to Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group, publishing a list of advertisers for Hannity’s show and urging individuals to pressure those companies to drop their ads.

Hannity has been trading on conspiracy theories about the death of Seth Rich, an ex-Democratic National Committee staffer who was shot and killed last summer. His fodder was an erroneous story that claimed Rich had been in touch with Wikileaks at the time of his death.

Advertiser boycotts can be a very effective tactic – some have pointed to the advertiser boycott against Bill O’Reilly after sexual harassment revelations as having led to his ouster by Fox News.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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