Mike Lindell, chief executive officer of My Pillow Inc., speaks to members of the media while arriving to federal court in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
Joshua Roberts | Bloomberg | Getty Images
MyPillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell told CNBC on Friday he is pulling ads from Fox News after the network said it wouldn’t take one of his commercials promoting a symposium that will press election-fraud claims.
MyPillow is one of Fox News’ and Tucker Carlson’s biggest advertisers. Lindell said he spent almost $50 million on the network last year and about $19 million this year to run his ads.
“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 number one cable news network,” a Fox News spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement.
Lindell told CNBC in a phone interview he made the decision to back out after Fox News declined to run a one-minute spot that promotes a cyber symposium, which he will be livestreaming from Aug. 10 to Aug. 12.
“I pulled all of my ads. Every one,” Lindell said. “If there are any stragglers today, it’s a fluke.”
Since the 2020 presidential election, Lindell has pressed claims of widespread election fraud, with votes stolen from President Donald Trump. However, security and election officials have found no proof of such activity.
The Wall Street Journal, which like Fox is owned by News Corp., first reported on the ad dispute. Quoting Lindell, it said the ad wouldn’t mention Trump’s claims of vote fraud. But the Journal noted that Lindell has said the symposium will prove that the election was stolen because of tampering with election machines.
Voting-machine maker Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation suit against Lindell and MyPillow in February. Lindell later filed a $1.6 billion countersuit.
Fox News has also been sued by Dominion. It alleges the cable news network falsely claimed Dominion’s voting machines were rigged during the 2020 presidential election. Fox News has moved to dismiss the suit.
Lindell said earlier this year said that several retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s, stopped selling his products after he began voicing the election-fraud claims.
“We lost 40% of our business in January and February,” Lindell said. “I can’t get that back. I can only try.”
