Regal Assets, a gold investment firm, used to advertise with Rush Limbaugh’s program. Now they have stopped. Tyler Gallagher, CEO of Regal assets, has come forward to tell why his company has withdrawn their support for Limbaugh.
Limbaugh has been under heavy fire from the public after he called Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” following her appearance before a House of Representatives panel to discuss birth control. Fluke had argued that providing birth control coverage in insurance is important because of the many non-pregnancy issues that such medications address including ovarian cysts and the like. Limbaugh took the opportunity to call her names and insist that she and others like her post videos of themselves having sex online. He issued an apology for his comments, but many have said they were half-hearted and were mitigated by his statements to his audience on his radio show the following Monday. Advertisers have been fleeing his program, leaving his flagship station WABC to have to populate most of his commercial spots with free public service announcements. Limbaugh has said that the exodus of local advertisers can not affect him, but that statement does not bear scrutiny.
Here is Gallagher’s statement to the press, in full.
As CEO of Regal Assets, LLC, I want to personally respond to the Rush Limbaugh scandal and the decision our company made last week to pull our advertising from Limbaugh’s show. We want to make it very clear that this was by no means a political decision; this was simply a moral choice.
The attacks on Sandra Fluke were unwarranted and, we believe, intentionally inflammatory. Realizing the Limbaugh show no longer fell in line with our core values as a company, we had to take action in light of this scandal and respond appropriately, and that led us to our decision to remove our advertising from the show.
We do not see Rush Limbaugh as a bad or evil person but as someone who misjudged his own destructive power. As we step into 2012, this is no way to treat each other. We are more evolved than that, and I hope at the end of the day we can all learn from this situation.
I personally do not believe any company should support the type of slanderous, defaming attacks that came from Limbaugh, whether or not they agree with the other side of the issue. There is a far more civilized way to communicate, and we wish Limbaugh had taken the high road with the Sandra Fluke topic.
We urge people to see the bigger picture of the scandal, as it is not about supporting one side’s argument but supporting each other as a whole and not condoning that type of abuse toward anyone. If we lose business because of our decision to do what is morally right, then so be it. Moral substance and dignity are more precious than the almighty dollar.
We at Regal Assets want to personally thank everyone who has sent positive feedback for our choice in this matter. It warms our souls to know people like this exist. For the backlash we have received over the past week from some, we urge those individuals to look past the politics and focus on the way Sandra Fluke was condemned and attacked. Put yourself in her shoes, and if you’re a parent with a daughter, imagine it was your daughter who was addressed in that inappropriate manner. I am sure if you honestly evaluate the incident, like we have at Regal Assets, your stance on the scandal will change.