Companies are responding to the flood of grievances against Rush Limbaugh. 45 companies yank ads from Rush

At least 45 companies have pulled their ads from the “The Rush Limbaugh Show” since the conservative talk show host called a law student a “slut” on the air last week, as the social media blitz against the popular radio program showed no signs of slowing down Thursday.

Companies are continuing to join the rapidly growing list of businesses that have ceased advertising on Limbaugh’s show, responding to the flood of grievances that are pouring in from disgruntled customers — even as the radio host dismissed the reports of advertisers pulling their commercials on his program Wednesday.


The list of companies that officially announced on Twitter, Facebook or in statements to other media outlets that they would stop advertising on the radio show include: AccuQuote Life Insurance, Allstate Insurance, American Heart Association, AOL, Aquarium of the Pacific, Bare Escentuals, Bethesda Sedation Dentistry, Bonobos, Capital One, Carbonite, Cascades Dental, Citrix, Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Constant Contact, Cunningham Security, Freedom Debt Relief, Geico, Girl Scouts, Goodwill Industries, Hadeed Carpet, JCPenney, Legal Zoom, Matrix Direct, Netflix, New York Lottery, Norway Savings Bank, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Philadelphia Orchestra, PolyCom, Portland Ovations, ProFlowers, Quicken Loans, Regal Assets, Reputation Rhino, RSVP Discount Beverage, Sears, Sensa, Service Magic, Sleep Train, Sleep Number, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Tax Resolution, Thompson Creek Windows, TurboTax and Vitacost.

( See also: 10 little-known Rush Limbaugh facts)

In addition, the Canadian rock group Rush has also asked Limbaugh’s show to stop using its music on the air, according to media producer Bob Cesca. “The use of Rush’s music in this manner implies an endorsement of the views expressed and products advertised on the show,” an attorney for the band said in a letter to the radio show, as Cesca reported. “Accordingly, we hereby demand that you immediately stop all use of Rush’s music and confirm that you will do so.”

Many companies explained that their ads had run on Limbaugh’s show inadvertently. A spokesperson for Goodwill Industries said in an email to POLITICO: “A PSA about Goodwill was aired on a DC-area station that airs the Rush Limbaugh Show and was done without our permission, knowledge or consent. We asked them to remove it because this was done without our prior approval.”

The communications director for the Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington also said in an email Tuesday, “Our decision to pull our advertising is due to the fact that current programming does not align with the Girl Scout mission. We were unaware at the time of purchase that our commercials would air during the program.”

Meanwhile, a few companies are stepping up to support Limbaugh’s show: SeekingArrangement.com, a company that bills itself “the world’s largest sugar daddy and sugar baby dating website,” announced its decision to start advertising on Limbaugh’s show late Tuesday , while the CEO of Ashley Madison, an online dating service website, said on CNN Wednesday morning that he is “willing to step into the void left by other advertisers.”

Limbaugh was condemned by members of the public and the media as well as elected officials after calling third-year Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” last week. But in the immediate days following Wednesday’s remarks, the radio personality had shown no signs of apologizing to Fluke as he continued his barrage against her on Thursday and Friday.

By the end of the week, President Barack Obama had personally called the law student to check if she was OK, and advertisers had started to pull their ads from the radio show as the public launched a social media blitz against the program.

On Saturday, Limbaugh issued a written statement apologizing for calling Fluke the offensive words, and explained the reasoning for his apology on his show Monday.

He also addressed the withdrawal of advertisers from his program, saying, “Now they’ve chosen to deny themselves that access. That’s a business decision and it’s theirs alone to make. They’ve decided they don’t want you or your business anymore. So be it.”

On his show Tuesday, Limbaugh made no mention of the Fluke incident during the first segment of his show as he discussed the “war on women” made up by the liberal media.

“What there is, is a war on freedom. There’s a war on freedom being raged daily from the White House, it’s being orchestrated by Obama,” he said. “And not just religious freedom. Freedom of everybody, including women.”

But after Obama was asked at a press conference about Limbaugh’s offensive comments about Fluke and the apology that followed days after, the radio host blasted the president for saying that he couldn’t comment on the sincerity of Limbaugh’s recent apology to Fluke because he doesn’t know “what’s in Rush Limbaugh’s heart.”

“He doesn’t know what’s in my heart, but you do. And that is the key,” Limbaugh said. “This is the guy who stands next to Jimmy Hoffa and chuckles when Hoffa talks about the sons of bitches in the tea party being taken out. He laughs when they’re demeaned and insulted. And he doesn’t answer the question about other people who have been really, really ripped and criticized and so forth by people on the left.”

Rachel Nelson, public relations director of Premiere Networks, which syndicates Limbaugh’s show and has ignored repeated phone calls since Friday, emailed POLITICO this statement early Tuesday:

“Premiere Networks is committed to providing its listeners with access to a broad range of opinion and commentary without condoning or agreeing with the opinions, comments or attempts at humor expressed by on-air talent. We respect the right of Mr. Limbaugh, as well as the rights of those who disagree with him, to express those opinions.”

The statement continued, “The contraception debate is one that sparks strong emotion and opinions on both sides of the issue. Last week, in an attempt at absurdist humor to illustrate his political point, Mr. Limbaugh used words that unfortunately distracted from the message he was trying to convey. We believe he did the right thing on Saturday, and again on his radio show on Monday, by expressing regret for his choice of words and offering his sincere and heartfelt apology to Ms. Fluke.”