SiriusXM Upsets Libs

A bevy of SiriusXM hosts came out in defense of free speech and the satellite radio giant after former Vermont governor Howard Dean and actor Seth Rogan threatened to cancel their SiriusXM subscriptions in protest of the network naming Breitbart News executive chairman Steve Bannon host of its daily radio program Breitbart News Daily.

Dean slammed SiriusXM for the move in a tweet Friday, linking to the network’s tweet announcing the news:

You should be ashamed of yourselves. I will not renew my subscription. https://t.co/Hy0XePeRI2

— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) December 7, 2017

Rogen pledged to pull out of scheduled interviews on SiriusXM satellite radio in protest of Bannon return as a regular host on the platform.

I was supposed to do a press tour on @SIRIUSXM on teusday but I'm no longer doing it because I can't bring myself to appear on the same service that has decided to support Steve Bannon. Apologies to the shows I had to cancel. And fuck Steve Bannon.

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) December 8, 2017

Dean’s tweet, however, sparked intense pushback from several SiriusXM hosts, many of them imploring the former presidential candidate to redouble his efforts to win debates for liberal Democrats instead of attempting to stifle the freedom of speech of his political opponents.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, SiriusXM spokesman Patrick Reilly said: “Since its inception, SiriusXM has promised to deliver a diversity of opinions and viewpoints, from conservative to progressive to everything in between.”

“SiriusXM takes no political position of our own across our more than 175 channels, but we are here to provide an open forum no matter where listeners stand on the political spectrum. Free speech is vitally important,” the statement said. “We ardently believe that by allowing a virtually unlimited platform of viewpoints, we are doing our best to uphold that core value.”