Weaponized demonetization .
Conservative commentator and radio host Ben Shapiro reportedly lost an advertiser Friday after reading ads during his speech at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.
Quip toothbrushes said it will no longer advertise on any of Shapiro’s programming, saying it disagreed with having its ad read at the anti-abortion rally, HuffPost reported.
“Our mission is to make good oral health more accessible to everyone, and podcast advertising is one way we’re able to realize this,” Quip said in a statement reported by HuffPost.
“However, following one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse, we have chosen to discontinue our advertising relationship with this show. We are also taking steps to ensure all of our advertising partners are aligned with our oral health mission and values.”
Shapiro garnered widespread attention online Friday after saying during his appearance at the rally that “no pro-life person would kill baby Hitler" because "baby Hitler was a baby.”
During his appearance at the rally, he also read ads for multiple sponsors. HuffPost noted that he read the ads for the podcast that he was simultaneously recording on Friday.
The 35-year-old Shapiro has a large following among younger conservatives. His podcast “The Ben Shapiro Show,” is downloaded more than 10 million times every month.
Neither Quip nor Shapiro immediately responded to requests for comment from The Hill on Friday night.
Calm, a relaxation and meditation app, responded to users condemning Shapiro’s speech about “baby Hitler” on Twitter, writing late Friday night that the company did not “align with” Shapiro’s message and that it would be pulling its sponsorship.
“We do not align with this message. We’re pulling our sponsorship,” Calm wrote on its official Twitter account.
The Hill has reached out to Calm and Shapiro for comment.
Calm’s announcement appears to be the second sponsor to pull its advertisements from Shapiro’s podcast after his speech Friday.
The commentator garnered widespread attention following his appearance at the rally for saying “no pro-life person would kill baby Hitler" because "baby Hitler was a baby.”
Quip toothbrushes was the first to announce that it would no longer advertise with the conservative commentator’s podcast after he read an ad for the company at the rally.
“Our mission is to make good oral health more accessible to everyone, and podcast advertising is one way we’re able to realize this,” Quip said in a statement reported by HuffPost.
“However, following one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse, we have chosen to discontinue our advertising relationship with this show. We are also taking steps to ensure all of our advertising partners are aligned with our oral health mission and values.”
Shapiro read ads for multiple sponsors in his speech, during which he simultaneously recorded an episode for his podcast, HuffPost reported.
Shapiro, 35, is editor-in-chief of conservative news website The Daily Wire. His podcast “The Ben Shapiro Show,” is downloaded more than 10 million times every month.
