Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Associated Press
More of Rush Limbaugh’s advertisers say they are dropping his program after the conservative talk-show host’s derogatory comments about a Georgetown law student.
On Monday, AOL Inc. and Tax Resolution Services Co. were the eighth and ninth companies to say that they will suspend advertising on Limbaugh’s program, one of the most-popular radio shows in the country.
Limbaugh last week called student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” after she testified to congressional Democrats in support of their national health-care policy that would compel her Jesuit college’s health plan to cover her birth control.
He apologized over the weekend after several advertisers pulled out of his program. On Monday, he joked that he got a busy signal when he called his show because of the advertisers who are abandoning it.
Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks Inc. hosts Limbaugh’s show. The company is supporting Limbaugh, whose on-air contract runs through 2016.
Fluke said Monday that Limbaugh’s apology changes nothing and that Americans have to decide whether to support companies that continue to advertise on his program.
Tax Resolution Services advises customers on tax disputes with the IRS. CEO Michael Rozbruch said Monday that his firm is pulling ads for now.
AOL, an Internet portal that runs the TechCrunch blog and the Huffington Post, said Monday that Limbaugh’s comments “are not in line with our values.”