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Steve Bannon speaks at a campaign event for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore in Fairhope, Alabama, on September 25, 2017.Scott Olson/Getty Images
Steve Bannon’s return to radio is facing backlash. Several celebrities have pledged to boycott SiriusXM for allowing President Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist to rejoin a conservative talk show.
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SiriusXM announced on Tuesday, December 5, that Bannon will return on weekday mornings as a regular host of Breitbart News Daily on the subscription service’s conservative Patriot channel. He will also lead the coverage of the midterm election and the 2020 presidential campaign.
“From the moment I left the White House, getting back behind the microphone was very important to me,” the 64-year-old, who is the executive chairman of the far-right website Breitbart, said in a statement. “To get on the road outside the Beltway and to spend time with the great men and women of America is an honor.”
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Bannon’s return sparked outrage from many SiriusXM listeners and celebrities. “I was supposed to do a press tour on @SIRIUSXM on teusday [sic] but I’m no longer doing it because I can’t bring myself to appear on the same service that has decided to support Steve Bannon. Apologies to the shows I had to cancel. And f–k Steve Bannon,” actor Seth Rogen tweeted on Friday, December 8.
I was supposed to do a press tour on @SIRIUSXM on teusday but I'm no longer doing it because I can't bring myself to appear on the same service that has decided to support Steve Bannon. Apologies to the shows I had to cancel. And fuck Steve Bannon.
Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge responded to the news by saying she is leaving her SiriusXM show, Melissa’s Basement. “After news that @SIRIUSXM has given #SteveBannon a show, I can no longer in good conscience be a part of my show @siriusxmvolume #speaktrue,” she tweeted on Friday evening.
Actor John Leguizamo expressed similar sentiments. “Just canceled my #SiriusXM [subscription] because they hired #Bannon ! No hate mongers! #BoycottSiriusXM,” he tweeted on Sunday, December 10.
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In a statement to CNN, SiriusXM said it “has promised to deliver a diversity of opinions and viewpoints, from conservative to progressive to everything in between,” adding that “free speech is vitally important.”
