Just hours after a top JPMorgan Chase advertising executive said she was “repulsed” by Megyn Kelly’s upcoming interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the financial powerhouse has decided to pull its advertising from Kelly’s program.
The company has asked for its local advertisements and digital ads to be removed from Kelly’s Sunday evening program until after the show airs. A spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal Monday the company does not want any of its advertisements to appear adjacent to any promotion of the interview.
JPMorgan’s chief marketing officer, Kristin Lemkau, on Monday questioned why Kelly would conduct the interview with the InfoWars host, who has suggested 9/11 was an inside job.
“As an advertiser, I’m repulsed that @megynkelly would give a second of airtime to someone who says Sandy Hook and Aurora are hoaxes,” Lemaku tweeted.
Outrage on social media grew Monday, causing the hashtag #shameonNBC to trend, but JPMorgan is the only advertiser as of Monday night to announce it will remove its ads from the program.
Jones, who has faced criticism for suggesting the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax, clarified his views during a Monday broadcast. He said he believes Sandy Hook did happen and that children likely died but argued there are anomalies about the event.
He claims those portions have been edited from NBC’s promotion of the interview and has demanded that Kelly’s “hit piece” not air on Father’s Day.
“I’m tired of being misrepresented,” Jones said.
