Grayscale pulls ad from Fox News after hurtful shooting comments

The company chose to remove their crypto ad after a Fox News host made inflammatory comments regarding a shooting that occurred in the US

Grayscale Investments, the firm that recently made headlines for airing an advertisement on cryptocurrencies, has pulled their ad from Tucker Carlson’s primetime show after the host made controversial comments regarding a shooting that broke out at a Black Lives Matter protest.

The ad was a part of a national campaign to promote digital currencies. It was launched three weeks ago and has been airing on FOX, FOX Business, CNBC and MSNBC.

On August 27, Carlson, a host on Fox News, appeared to justify a shooting that was carried out by a 17-year-old with an automatic rifle. The rampage resulted in the death of two protestors, with one wounded.

“Are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” he asked.

The public backlash on social media was swift, with popular YouTuber and political host Brian Taylor Cohen calling out the eight sponsors of the show for “paying Tucker Carlson to defend a murderer on air”.

Grayscale is one of the eight sponsors of Fox News.

Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter, Jamie, in a school shooting last 2018, posted a heated tweet in response to Carlson’s comments.

“My daughter was killed by an 18 year with a AR 15.  Just walked into her school.  Tucker, you are a fucking lunatic who will get people killed.  I hope advertisers drop you immediately today.  You should be removed for the safety of our kids.” his tweet reads.

Grayscale was quick to release a statement of their own on Twitter, assuring netizens that the ideas voiced out on the show are “absolutely not aligned with our values or what we stand for”.

“It came to our attention that one of our ads erroneously ran during a TV program last night that is absolutely not aligned with our values or what we stand for. We’re investigating how this aired outside of our media buyer’s guidelines to ensure this does not happen again.”

There have been mixed reactions to Grayscale’s decision to pull out the ad. While some commend their quick action, others believe that the firm should have stuck to promoting cryptocurrencies and refuse to engage in politics. Matt Messex, a crypto investor, tweeted that he will be closing his accounts due to the political direction of Grayscale’s stance.

Grayscale is a high profile cryptocurrency investment firm with $5.8 billion in assets.