UFC President Slams Peloton for Pulling Podcast Ads Over RFK Jr. Interview, Company Citing ‘Brand Safety’
The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) criticized luxury exercise bike company Peloton for running ads on a podcast about the host’s interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
UFC president Dana White criticized Peloton on comedian Theo Von’s show after the comedian said the exercise bike company pulled ads about his interview with Kennedy.
A Peloton spokesperson disputed the claim that it asked Von to remove episodes, telling Fox News Digital that the company pulled its advertising because the comedian’s content went against the company’s “brand safety guidelines.” .
White attacked Peloton with an expletive-laden rebuke after Von told him the high-end workout equipment company pulled the ads.
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UFC president Dana White criticized Peloton on comedian Theo Von’s show after the comedian said the exercise bike company backed out of an advertising deal over his interview with Kennedy. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
“Peloton, what do you sell, damn… stationary bikes?” White said. “Peloton sells exercise bikes and they have a problem with fucking Robert Kennedy.”
“Damn Platoon! Who the fuck are they? Are you kidding me?” continued the UFC president. “Damn Peloton, calling, fucking about Robert Kennedy.”
White and Von attacked Peloton and the company’s CEO Barry McCarthy in the podcast episode. White said he would remove the Peloton bikes from his gym.
“We’re getting rid of Platoons,” White said. “The platoons are outside the gym.”
Von said Peloton “was about to go public or something” and that its ad agency said, “There’s concern that this could ruin everything.”
“It’s fucking 8 o’clock on a Friday night or something, and we were forced to remove a previous episode because of something he recently said on the news,” Von said.
“This was like…two years ago,” Von added.
White and Von criticized Peloton and the company’s CEO Barry McCarthy in the podcast episode and said they would remove Peloton bikes from their gym. (Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)
Peloton spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the company requested that its ad be removed from a December 2021 episode that featured an interview with Kennedy, due to the company’s “brand safety guidelines” that restrict proximity to political content. The spokesperson said the company “continued to advertise with him.”
According to the spokesperson, Peloton’s “brand safety guidelines” prohibit the company from advertising close to “drug and alcohol use, vulgar language, inappropriate things, crude humor, sexual themes, political issues, racial issues” and other issues. Similar.
Fox News Digital asked the spokesperson about The support of the Platoon of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. The spokesperson noted the company’s “values” and said that “fairness has always been a core value for the company.”
“But again, let’s take the question in relation to advertising,” the spokesperson said. “There would have been no proactive ad buys related to that issue in either direction, right, because that was political.”
“So we’re talking about the difference in a statement regarding the company’s beliefs, the company’s values and marketing advertising spending,” the spokesperson continued.
Additionally, the spokesperson said Peloton pulled its advertising with Von after a March 2022 sponsored episode that delved into pornography and sexual situations.
Von’s content is known to include sexual and other adult themes. Fox News Digital asked the spokesperson if Peloton had asked for ads to be pulled from similar episodes, but the spokesperson was “unsure” if that had happened.
A Peloton spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the company respects Von’s work and did not ask her to remove an episode. The spokesperson said the company pulled its advertising because the comedian’s content went against the company’s “brand safety guidelines” that they “proactively share with” those who advertise. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
The spokesperson suggested that Von’s content may have changed over the years.
“I think it would be necessary to study the arc of his podcast to see how it has evolved,” the spokesperson said. “I’m not sure what a ‘typical’ episode includes today compared to 2021.”
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The spokesperson also said the company does “the best it can, but it’s impossible to watch/listen to every episode, every location” it advertises. Like “any brand, we do our best to stay on top of everything so we can be as consistent as humanly possible in real time when it comes to our brand safety guidelines,” the spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Von’s podcast for comment.
