SOROS now tries to get Hannity fired, with proxy pressure on advertisers. Will Fox cower or be stand up?
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Fox News may be seeing a repeat of the reactive hysteria from advertisers that drove out its former top anchor, Bill O'Reilly.
At least seven advertisers - Cars.com, Leesa Sleep, Casper, USAA, Peloton, the Crowne Plaza hotel chain and doorbell company Ring - have asked to be pulled from Sean Hannity's prime-time program.
The defections are in response to political pressure applied upon them by Soros funded group MEDIA MATTERS.... and the pressure is an attempt to gag the media reportage of the Seth Rich assassination scandal. Rich, purportedly a Democratic National Committee staffer, was allegedly slain after providing DNC emails to WikiLeaks.
A representative of Fox News would not comment on the pullout by advertisers and said Hannity is off the rest of the week on a scheduled vacation.
"Like the rest of the country, Sean Hannity is taking a vacation around Memorial Day weekend and will be back on Tuesday," a spokesperson for Fox News said. "Those who suggest otherwise are going to look foolish."
Hannity has always been the most outspoken voice on Fox News Channel. But after Fox News received "key phone calls" Hannity was told to pipe down about the scandal.
Hannity insists that it was his decision to stop discussing Rich's death out of 'respect for the family'.
But the talk within Fox News is that Hannity was asked to back off the matter, which comes at a delicate time as Fox News parent 21st Century Fox is attempting to get British regulators to approve its acquisition of European pay TV giant Sky.
Advertisers asking Fox News to take their commercials out of the program in response to the controversy - the same thing that led to O'Reilly's undoing - will be a test for Fox News.
Fox News stood by O'Reilly in the early weeks of the advertiser defection. But later caved.
If Fox News severs its ties with Hannity, it would be a statement of cowardice. It could also raise questions about whether advertisers have undue influence in what political ideas can be shared on cable news.
"Moving away from a news story suggests brands are now taking political positions," said Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business in New York. "It may cost them sales in the long run as some consumers push back."
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Hannity has himself been a supporter of free speech for other TV and radio hosts who have run into controversies.
When "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert recently faced criticism over a lewd joke he told on the air, Hannity tweeted: "I will NOT support #FireColbert. I am vs ALL BOYCOTTS. He is a horrible human being, but if u don't like him change the channel."
(Some portions of this report derived from an LA Times dispatch)