Sean Hannity will remain at Fox News, despite advertiser bolt

A few headlines announcing how advertisers are leaving his show is not deterring Sean Hannity or his bosses. Fox News says their star host will remain a major fixture at the network.

“Like the rest of the country, Sean Hannity is taking a vacation for Memorial Day weekend and will be back on Tuesday,” a representative for Fox News said in a statement obtained by EW. “Those who suggest otherwise are going to look foolish.”

Some advertisers have announced plans to remove ads from Hannity’s show after he continued to spin a conspiratorial narrative about the death of a former Democratic National Committee staffer last summer. Several companies like Cars.com and Crown Plaza Hotels reportedly told news outlets that they were yanking support, especially after Fox News issued a retraction about the story.

Though disproved by authorities, Hannity continued to drive a theory that DNC staffer Seth Rich was shot and killed near his home because he had supplied DNC emails to WikiLeaks. The police said he died in a robbery gone wrong while Rich’s parents have reportedly asked Hannity to stop trying to cogitate an alternative motive.

At first, Hannity didn’t stand down. “All you in the liberal media, I am not Fox.com or Foxnews.com. I retracted nothing,” he said on his Tuesday radio show. But by the time Hannity appeared on his Fox News show later that evening, the host told viewers he will stop talking about the theory. That hasn’t stopped him from addressing the subject on his Twitter feed, however. In recent days, Hannity has posted about the threats of an advertiser boycott and written cryptic messages that reference his ongoing mission.

A report in Variety says Hannity generated $65.7 million in ad revenue last year, up 17 percent from the prior year.

Last month, Bill O’Reilly was fired from Fox News after scores of advertisers cut off ties with his show in the wake of a scathing New York Times report that claimed he sexually harassed several women.