Buzzfeed Cancels $1.3M GOP Ad Deal Over Trump: We Don’t Take Ads For Unhealthy Cigarettes Either

Politico reports:

BuzzFeed has pulled out of advertising agreement with the Republican National Committee over objections to Donald Trump’s rhetoric. The buy was for $1.3 million, a source close to BuzzFeed told POLITICO. The source said that the main consideration was the site’s employees – that BuzzFeed could not countenance “having employees make ads, or working at the company and having our site promoting things, that limit our freedom and make it harder for them to live their lives.” Asked if the site would rule out any Trump advertising, the source said the specifics would matter: “In general, we have taken the position that we won’t take ads for his presidential campaign.”

Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti: “We certainly don’t like to turn away revenue that funds all the important work we do across the company. However, in some cases we must make business exceptions: we don’t run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health, and we won’t accept Trump ads for the exact same reason.”