The owners of Black Rifle Coffee company went from pulling out of sponsoring The Blaze TV after a reporter took a shot of accused of killing two people while protecting a car lot in Kenosha, Wisconsin back in August. To now they aren’t stopping their ad spend, but are very disappointed in The Blaze.
The move is stunning considering the Salt Lake City based group has heavy ties into conservative and veteran groups around the nation.
The Following is from The Salt Lake City Tribune:
Elijah Schaffer from The Blaze TV tweeted a since-removed photo of the 17-year-old wearing a Black Rifle Coffee Company shirt with the caption, “Kyle Rittenhouse drinks the best coffee in America.” The teenager was released Friday after supporters raised his $2 million bail.
Schaffer posted a discount code for the coffee under the post with the photo. And online, commenters questioned whether the coffee company had a sponsorship deal with Rittenhouse and accused it of supporting murder and hate.
But Black Rifle Coffee, a sponsor of Schaffer’s Slightly Offens*ve podcast, said in a statement Saturday that it is not sponsoring or supporting Rittenhouse.
A spokesperson for the coffee company told The Salt Lake Tribune on Saturday afternoon that the company was terminating its sponsorship of Slightly Offens*ve, but late Saturday, she said she had misunderstood.
“We are not fluctuating our ad spend,” she said in a text message. “We did have a conversation with Schaffer, and he understands that the post was a mistake.”
Earlier in the day, she had said:
“We don’t traffic in national tragedy and to us, that’s what this is. We are not legal experts or members of law enforcement. We fully support all law enforcement officials and believe in the integrity of the legal system.”
After clarifying the company’s continuing sponsorship of Blaze Media, she added:
“Our concern is that use of the discount code in the post did not reflect our values. That’s a concern we’ve addressed with the journalist and that he understands.”
You can read more from our friends at The Salt Lake City Tribune.
UPDATE: AFTER THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED, BLACK RIFLE COFFEE MADE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT:
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Good thing I never bought Black Rifle Coffee and never will.
I was literally going to place an order. They are cowards. I do not drink coffee with cowards. This company is dead they me.
I am glad Kyle that you have lawyers that believe you my husband and I saw the tapes and I would say self defense man how that one guy hit you with that skate board was something else i would have felt threaten but good luck in court and by the looks of it you have some great lawyers…
Hey Matt, I see that Faux News settled with Seth Rich’s parents. You really need to stop with your basement conspiracy theories that hurt innocent folks like Seth’s parents. I find it odd that a “Christian man” likes to break the Ten Commandments on the daily. I guess Sundays at church make up for the lies spread during the rest of the week??? How’s that go fund me coming along??? I think it’s amazing that you have your hands out for hand outs to help get you out of the hole you dug yourself! (Do you consider that socialism or the American way of “I take no responsibility” and let others clean your mess?). #BeBest #MAGA2020 #WherestheKraken?