Major advertisers, including the Walt Disney Company and Sandals, the vacation resorts, have fled, requesting that Fox News remove their ads from Mr. Carlson’s 8 p.m. hour. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was seen by 4.2 million people on Monday, making it the most-watched television program in the country that night, ahead of entertainment fare on the major networks. Fox News’s stars, including Mr. Carlson, are no stranger to advertising boycotts and denunciations from the left. But at a moment of deep national turmoil, prompted by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, the response to Mr. Carlson offers another sign of the nation’s deep political divide. Major American brands have recoiled from his program — and celebrities like Padma Lakshmi have accused him of spreading “race-baiting filth” — even as many viewers remain enthusiastic.

Source: New York Times June 18, 2020 23:15 UTC