‘Hannity’ fans smash Keurig brewers over pulled ads

FILE: Supporters of conservative host Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel show are responding to a decision by Keurig to stop advertising on the show by smashing Keurig coffee makers. (Photo By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0)

NEW YORK — Supporters of conservative host Sean Hannity’s Fox News Channel show are responding to a decision by Keurig to stop advertising on the show by smashing Keurig coffee makers.

The company announced Saturday it had pulled advertising from “Hannity” after several Twitter users questioned the company’s support for the host, citing Hannity’s coverage of sexual misconduct allegations against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama. Moore is accused of having sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl four decades ago when he was in his 30s.

It’s unclear when Keurig stopped advertising on “Hannity.” The Waterbury, Vermont, company didn’t respond to a request for further comment Monday.

The move prompted several people to destroy Keurig products in protest and post videos to social media. Blogger Angelo John Gage promoted what he called the “Keurig Smash Challenge” while posting a video of himself taking a hammer to his brewer.

Another user posted a video of a Keurig brewer being tossed to the ground from the second story of a building. Hannity commented “love it” while retweeting one video of a man teeing off on a coffee maker with a golf club.

Liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America has been putting public pressure on Hannity’s advertisers for months. The group’s president, Angelo Carusone, told The Associated Press it again called for companies to stop supporting Hannity’s program after the Moore allegations came to light Thursday in a Washington Post story.

Carusone said that while he feels bad for Keurig, Hannity’s encouragement of the protest against the company “demonstrates to other advertisers to run for the hills.”

Several other brands, including DNA testing company 23 and Me , women’s clothing label ELOQUII , food delivery service Hello Fresh and natural supplement maker Nature’s Bounty also said they don’t advertise on “Hannity.”

Nature’s Bounty said it hasn’t advertised on the show since the summer but declined to give a reason. Hello Fresh said it last advertised on “Hannity” in August and added that it doesn’t advertise on certain shows “for a variety of reasons.” It’s unclear if 23 and Me and ELOQUII previously advertised on “Hannity,” and the companies didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Realtor.com posted on Twitter on Saturday that it doesn’t run ads on “Hannity” and wouldn’t do so in the future. That tweet was later deleted, and the company posted a statement on its website Sunday stating it would “continue to place ads across a broad range of networks, including Fox News and its top shows.

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Realtor.com declined comment on the reason for the change.

Realtor.com is owned by News Corp. Fox News is owned by 21st Century Fox. Rupert Murdoch is executive chairman of both companies.

Fox News didn’t immediately return a request for comment Monday.