Third Limbaugh Advertiser Quits After Rush Calls College Student A ‘Slut’

Editor’s note: This is a developing story. For the latest, read: Limbaugh Brand Poison As List Of Advertisers Quitting Jumps Yet Again

Rush Limbaugh‘s advertisers are having a tough day today. They have to decide whether to weather the severe firestorm the unofficial head of the GOP sparked this week when he decided to attack and slander a 30-year old woman, calling her a “slut,” a “prostitute,” and demanding she post online a tape of her having sex “so we all can watch,” the 61-year old talk radio host told his 20 million weekly listeners. So far, three advertisers have canceled their advertising and dropped their support of Rush Limbaugh’s show. The first was The Sleep Train, and just a few hours ago, Sleep Number announced they were dropping Limbaugh also. Just minutes ago, Quicken Loans announced it had “suspended” its advertising on Limbaugh’s show as well.

Think Progress has a list of other advertisers and whether or not they’ve made public mention of their positions. Looking at their Twitter accounts, so far Think Progress reports “Technology company Carbonite, online legal service LegalZoom.com and automotive company AutoZone have all been quiet on their official accounts.”

Perhaps we have Brian Dickerson at the Detroit Free Press to thank. Seven minutes before they posted their suspension, Dickerson posted an op-ed which ended with this:

Detroit-based Quicken Loans, which California Congresswoman Jackie Speier identified as one of Limbaugh’s key sponsors, attempted to wait out the furor.

“While we do not condone or agree with Mr. Limbaugh’s statements regarding Sandra Fluke, we respect his right to express his views,” Quicken Loans spokeswoman Paula Silver said in a prepared statement.

Silver said Quicken buys radio advertising adjacent to a wide variety of shows, adding: “In no instance does Quicken Loans ever have any control of the content or comments of the shows.”

That’s the sort of language an advertiser’s legal advisers are happy to sign off on.

But if some yahoo your company paid to sell its products had just called my daughter a whore on national radio, I’m not sure I’d be satisfied.

It’s impressive that ordinary citizens can pressure large corporations to do the right thing, despite the fact that very few Republican politicians have denounced Limbaugh’s comments.