MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to Pull All Ads from Fox News After Network Blocks Commercial
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, is pulling his ads from Fox News.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the decision stemmed from a dispute over an ad Lindell wanted to run about a cyber symposium that would delve into the subject of alleged fraud in the 2020 election.
“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 No. 1 cable news network,” Fox News said in a statement, according to Adweek.
The Wall Street Journal report said the ad would not have directly addressed the issue of election fraud.
Lindell has been zealous in his efforts to convince Americans that fraud took place in the 2020 election, and that the voting machines used in many states were part of the problem.
As a result, he has been sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox has also been sued by both Dominion and Smartmatic, another company that makes voting machines.
Fox has suffered temporary stoppages in ads amid various controversies, but MyPillow is not simply another advertiser.
According to AdWeek, citing data from iSpot.tv, MyPillow has aired 993 spots on Fox’s prime-time shows, which is more than any other advertiser.
Of those, 546 spots were on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Lindell told The Wall Street Journal he spent $50 million with Fox News in 2020 and about $19 million to date in 2021.
The MyPillow CEO has said that his election fraud claims have resulted in retailers dropping his products.
In promoting his cyber symposium, which is scheduled for Aug. 10-12 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Lindell framed the election as “crooked” and called it “the biggest crime ever,” according to KSFY-TV.
“I want these cyber forensic experts all here,” he said, adding that when experts have examined what he will present, “they’re going to validate it just like I had cyber experts validate all this, OK?”
Lindell is live-streaming the event.
“And I do believe that will be one of the most-watched events in history,” Lindell said. “We’re going to run on one screen. The whole election … constant, you know, because it’s a stream of information.”
In May, as part of his response to the suit filed by Dominion, Lindell’s lawyers said that a caller has made threats against Lindell using the company’s call center, according to The Epoch Times.
In March, Lindell said he fears for his safety.
“I absolutely move around to undisclosed locations,” he said. “I haven’t been back to Minnesota, and anybody out there that is looking for me, I haven’t been back there in two months,” he added. “I can’t go back there.”
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