Laura Ingraham Due To Return On Fox News

Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham is expected back at work tonight following a backlash by advertisers upset over her tweet mocking a Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor. Her one-week vacation served as a cooling-off period.

The number of companies saying they would not advertise on her show, at 19, according to CBS News citing a count by Media Matters for America.

Ingraham also picked up backing from an unexpected source in liberal talk show host Bill Maher late on Friday.

David Hogg

Ingraham has apologized for a tweet in which she said 17-year-old high school student David Hogg whined about being rejected by some colleges. Hogg has said it's "time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children." Their spat became a symbol of a debate over how minors active in national gun safety talks should be treated by political opponents.

Hogg has urged companies to reconsider their relationships with Ingraham, a veteran pundit whose Fox show has aired only for a few months.

Vacations under fire can be an ominous sign. Another Fox prime-time host, Bill O'Reilly, went on vacation when advertisers abandoned him following reports about sexual misconduct complaints against him; he never returned. An advertiser boycott helped cost O'Reilly his job at near-lightning speed. Former Fox personality Glenn Beck fell victim to an advertiser abandonment that was much more gradual.

However, attempts to launch boycotts against Sean Hannity have largely failed, and he remains Fox's top-rated personality.

Meanwhile, HBO's Bill Maher said on his show that even though Ingraham has been "a deliberately terrible person, saying horrible things," the young gun safety advocates have to expect criticism if they are entering the public arena. He said they shouldn't target advertisers.


Hogg "complains about bullying," Maher said. "That's bullying. I have been the victim of a boycott of sponsors. I lost a job once. It is wrong."