Quip, the millennial-focused subscription toothbrush company, has discontinued its relationship with Ben Shapiro’s podcast after Shapiro read an ad for the company at the anti-abortion March for Life—a venue the company “didn’t endorse,” it said.
Right Wing Watch’s Jared Holt reported from the scene at the March for Life, a yearly gathering of anti-abortion activists, where the King of Facts himself, Ben Shapiro, spoke today. During his speech—already notable for his truly epic comments regarding “Baby Hitler”—Shapiro also read out three ads for sponsors for his podcast, since apparently he intended to use the speech as a podcast episode too (available for subscribers only, unfortunately):
(The bed sheet company, Holt told me, was Boll & Branch.)
Neither Boll & Branch nor ZipRecruiter, who accidentally placed an ad on a white nationalist podcast in 2017, responded to our request for comment.
Quip, however, provided the following statement Friday evening:
Our mission is to make good oral health more accessible to everyone, and podcast advertising is one way we’re able to realize this. However, following one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse, we have chosen to discontinue our advertising relationship with this show. We are also taking steps to ensure all of our advertising partners are aligned with our oral health mission and values.
The startup is listed as a sponsor of Shapiro’s show, alongside other mainstream companies like Ring, Betterment, and Blue Apron. It’s unclear why Quip didn’t feel that Shapiro’s anti-abortion politics is not in alignment with their oral health mission and values until today; Shapiro has previously compared abortion to slavery.
CORRECTION: 01/22/19, 11.17 a.m. ET: This post initially identified PodcastOne as the network that hosts Shapiro’s show. The show is actually published by Westwood One. We’ve asked Westwood One for comment.