At least a dozen advertisers and counting have hastily jumped ship from TLC's 19 Kids and Counting after one of the show's stars, 27-year-old Josh Duggar, seemed to own up to child molestation allegations in a statement last week.
General Mills, Payless, Walgreen's and Choice Hotels International were among the first brands to sever ties with the show on Tuesday, followed shortly after by Jimmy Dean, Pure Leaf Iced Tea, Ace Hardware, David's Bridal, ConAgra Foods, Party City and Behr Paint, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
CVS, H&R Block, Ricola and Keurig have also said they would take steps to remove advertising if the network continues to run the show.
@moaevil Thank you for reaching out. We share your concerns and we have decided to remove our advertising from the show.— Choice Hotels (@ChoiceHotels) May 26, 2015
@SweetBabbyJesus Our ads ran during this show as part of a larger buy w/ TLC. We are taking steps to have them removed from future episodes.— Payless ShoeSource (@PaylessInsider) May 26, 2015
TLC was quick to pull every episode of the long-running reality show off the air after a police report surfaced in tabloid In Touch Weekly, but the network has yet to actually pull the plug on it, and Variety reports that it is mulling the idea of bringing it back.
The indecisive reaction is a marked departure from the network's snap decision to cancel Honey Boo Boo after it was reported that series matriarch June "Mama June" Shannon was dating a convicted child molester.
But with blocs of advertisers on the run, it seems unlikely that TLC will attempt to reprise 19 Kids and Counting for another season.