School shooting survivor David Hogg has rejected Bill O’Reilly’s claim that he is being manipulated into forcing Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham off air.
In a post on his website, O’Reilly said the companies which had withdrawn advertisements from Ingraham’s show were ‘being directed by powerful, shadowy radical groups who want [her] off the air.’
In the same post he insisted similar groups were behind his embarrassing and abrupt exit from Fox last year – prompted by the disclosure of a series of sexual harassment allegations.
Appearing on MSNBS’s The Last Word, Hogg denied he was the figurehead of some clandestine conspiracy.
‘I’m pretty well lit — I don’t see any shadowy figures behind me,’ Hogg said.
Bill O’Reilly (pictured) said in a post on his website Hogg is being manipulated into forcing Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham off air
David Hogg (pictured) refuted claims by O’Reilly the advertising boycott of Laura Ingraham’s show was the work of ‘powerful, shadowy radical groups’
‘If he sees shadowy figures as corporate America standing by us, okay, I guess. It doesn’t really make sense.’
Later in the interview, Lawrence O’Donnell asked Hogg what he would say to O’Reilly if he was to meet him face to face.
‘Corporate America is on the side of justice,’ Hogg replied.
‘You, with the sexual harassment, they stood with the victims of that to ensure that nobody else would have to suffer through that. They’re trying to stand with us too to prevent the bullying we’ve seen.’
It comes after Fox revealed Ingraham will stay on-air, even though more than a dozen companies pulled their advertisements after she mocked David Hogg’s college rejections.
‘We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts,’ Fox News Co-President Jack Abernethy told the Los Angeles Times.
‘We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she returns from spring vacation with her children.’
Fox News revealed it will not end Laura Ingraham’s show, even though more than a dozen companies pulled their advertisements after she mocked David Hogg’s college rejections
Ingraham took a pre-planned break from her show after apologizing to Hogg on Twitter.
The Ingraham Angle host had come under fire after she claimed the Parkland school shooting survivor was ‘whining’ about not getting into four California universities.
‘On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland,’ she tweeted on Thursday.
Ingraham added that she believed she was the first to feature Hogg on her show after the shooting, saying ‘he’s welcome to come on my show anytime for a productive discussion’.
But that was only after Hogg had mobilized a boycott of her advertisers, tweeting out a list of their names and encouraging followers to call and request the companies to drop the host’s program.
The Atlantis Paradise Island resort, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Liberty Mutual, Wayfair, StitchFix, Nestlé and Johnson & Johnson have all pulled their ads from Ingraham’s show.
Hogg later told CNN that he did not accept Ingraham’s apology, which had been tweeted to her two million followers.
The 17-year-old said her harsh words were in line with previous remarks Ingraham had made about gay people studying at Dartmouth in 1984.
Hogg later told CNN that he did not accept Ingraham’s apology, which had been tweeted to her two million followers
Hogg also referenced when the Fox News host told LeBron James to ‘shut up and dribble’, adding these people also deserved apologies.
‘It’s disturbing to know that somebody can bully so many people and just get away with it, especially to the level that she did,’ he said.
‘No matter who somebody is, no matter how big or powerful they may seem, a bully is a bully and it’s important that you stand up to them.’
Hogg also took issue with the fact that, in her apology tweets, Ingraham included a clip of her own interview with the high school student.
‘That’s what she does when she tries to apologize to me, she promotes her own show? Really?’ Hogg added, calling her attacks ‘really, really stupid’.
‘I’m a 17-year-old kid, she’s bullied people before and I think people are just sick and tired of it,’ he said. ‘She needs to acknowledge what she has done wrong.’
Hogg took to Twitter to bid farewell to the Fox Host who announced she was going off air
Ingraham, pictured above, announced she would be taking a vacation just days after Parkland shooting survivor Hogg convinced dozens of her show’s advertisers to withdraw
When Ingraham announced she would be going away with her children for the Easter break, Hogg tweeted ‘Have some healthy reflections this Holy Week’ echoing Ingraham’s own words of apology.
In her Friday evening segment she did not address her online clash with Hogg.
Ingraham sparked trouble on Wednesday when she took to Twitter to mock Hogg.
She wrote: ‘David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it’.
Hogg said Thursday via Twitter that he would only accept an apology should she denounce her treatment of the Parkland student activists rallying for gun reform.
‘I 100 percent agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight,’ he wrote.
‘It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children,’ he added.
The Fox personality failed to address her clash with Hogg during her Friday broadcast
The online scuffle began on Wednesday when Ingraham mocked Hogg for being rejected from four colleges
Hogg has said he believes Ingraham is just trying to distract from the gun violence he and other students strive to end
Hogg told New Day on Friday he believes Ingraham is just trying to distract from the gun violence he and other students strive to end.
‘She’s only apologizing after a third of her advertisers pulled out, and I think it’s really disgusting the fact that she basically tried promoting her show after apologizing to me,’ said Hogg at the time.
‘I think it’s great that corporate America is standing with me and the rest of my friends.’
‘When you come against any of us, me or anyone else, you’re coming against all of us. It is important that we stand together as corporate and civic America and show them they cannot push us around, especially when all we’re trying to do here is save lives.’
He continued: ‘When people try to distract like what Laura is trying to do from what the real is issue is, gun violence in America, it’s not only is sad but wrong. I would say from a journalistic perspective, she needs to stand out.’
Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Liberty Mutual, Wayfair, StitchFix, Nestlé and Johnson & Johnson have all pulled their ads from Ingraham’s show
Fox News isn’t the only one standing by Laura Ingraham.
It has recently been revealed that Russian bots are also supporting the host on Twitter, posting tweets with the hashtag #IstandwithLaura.
Hamilton 68, a website that tracks the spread of Russian propaganda on Twitter, found the hashtag jumped 2,800 percent in 48 hours this weekend, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
And on Saturday #IstandwithLaura was the top trending hashtag among Russian bots.
The Twitter handles for Ingraham, Hogg, and Fox News were also among the top six Twitter handles tweeted by accounts linked to Russia, according to the site botcheck.me, which tracks political propaganda bots.
And ‘David Hogg’ and ‘Laura Ingraham’ were the top two-word phrases that were being shared.
Researchers have found that a number of bots began tweeting about Parkland to spread false information after the February 14 massacre.