Babbel apologizes for ad aired on ‘repugnant’ Tucker Carlson show, Fox pushes back

Language-learning platform Babbel apologized Tuesday for its ad being aired during Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which the company called “repugnant.”

“If you saw our ad on Tucker Carlson’s show, you’re right to be upset. We are too,” Babbel USA tweeted.

If you saw our ad on Tucker Carlson’s show, you’re right to be upset. We are too. While we did place our ad with Fox, we did not know it would air on a show so repugnant and at odds with our mission and values. We are blacklisting the show going forward. We are deeply sorry.

— Babbel USA (@BabbelUSA) April 30, 2019

A Fox News spokesperson fired back at the company in a statement, saying the network would “not allow voices like Tucker Carlson’s to be censored.”{mosads}

“The millions of unduplicated viewers watching Tucker Carlson Tonight are extremely valuable to our advertisers. Our audience is not only deeply loyal to the brand, but to our top tier partners as well, of which Babbel is not one,” the Fox News spokesperson said.

“We will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson’s to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts from the intolerant partisan activists Media Matters, Sleeping Giants and Moveon.org whose only goal is to silence conservative thought they don’t agree with,” the spokesperson asserted.

Several companies have pulled their ads from the show in the last year.

When the anchor in December said the “immigration crisis” in America makes the country “poorer and dirtier and more divided,” insurance company Pacific Life, personal finance website NerdWallet and SmileDirectClub all pulled their ads.

In March, after comments Carlson made about women and minorities during appearances on a radio show between 2006 and 2011 resurfaced, more firms, including bedding and sleepwear company Sheex, stopped running ads on the show.

Updated at 8:15 p.m.