MyPillow CEO and fervent Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell says he's pulling all of his advertisements from Fox News after the network refused to run a spot for his "cyber symposium," which he claims will provide enough proof of industrial-scale election fraud to propel the former president back into office.
The pillow maven told Salon the news Thursday evening while heading back from a day at the ocean with his family.
"I am pulling everything!" Lindell said. "Fox [News] denied the [cyber symposium] ad, and they based it on 'pending litigation.'"
The pillow maven told Salon exclusively last week that he planned to get back at the conservative network for their failure to promote — or cover, or even mention, for that matter — the "cyber symposium," which is set to overtake Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Aug. 10-12. Fox spurning the event apparently launched the idea for Lindell to run custom ads geared towards drumming up support among conservatives ahead of the gathering.
Asked when the advertising boycott will start, Lindell said the decision was effective "immediately."
"Shame on you, Fox News," he added. "Shame on them!"
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A Fox News spokesperson said that Lindell's decision was "unfortunate."
"It's unfortunate Mr. Lindell has chosen to pause his commercial time on FOX News given the level of success he's experienced in building his brand through advertising on the number one cable news network," the spokesperson told Salon.
MyPillow commercials have been a staple on Fox News for years — indeed, the company was one of the network's largest sponsors last year, according to advertising data from market research firm iSpot.tv.
Lindell told the Wall Street Journal that MyPillow spent nearly $50 million on Fox News spots in 2020, and has spent roughly $19 million so far in 2021.
That money is also used to prop up Fox provocateur Tucker Carlson, with MyPillow making up at least 20% of the advertising on Carlson's primetime show — more than 10 times the next-largest spender.
On Wednesday evening, Lindell told Salon that Fox News was "stalling" and "reluctant" to accept his ad buy on the network to advertise for his "cyber symposium" event — though he said that Newsmax and OAN have both agreed to run the symposium ads.
You can watch the ad below, via Salon:
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