Sandy Hook group withdraws Megyn Kelly invitation following Alex Jones interview

The Sandy Hook massacre of 2012 is possibly one of the most gruesome gun-related crimes in recent history and it opened a nationwide debate about gun control. Infowars radio host Alex Jones has consistently called the whole thing a conspiracy and hence NBC broadcaster Megyn Kelly's interview with the controversial Jones has caused a huge backlash.

A controversial interview

The interview is scheduled to be telecast on Sunday but it has already attracted a lot of flak from the general public and also from the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, which works towards the prevention of gun-related violence.

Alex Jones, who is a staunch advocate of the right to bear arms, has consistently spawned conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook and even went as far as to say that the whole thing was a Government conspiracy.

The massacre was perpetrated by a lone gunman who opened fire at the Sandy Hook Elementary School back in 2012 and killed 20 children. Six adults had also been killed in the incident. Hence, it is not a surprise that the interview has caused widespread disbelief among many and the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation has reacted swiftly by announcing that Megyn Kelly will no longer be the host at their gala night. It is a yearly event hosted by the foundation.

The co-founder of the foundation, Nicole Hockley said, “Sandy Hook Promise cannot support the decision by Megyn or NBC to give any form of voice or platform to Alex Jones and have asked Megyn Kelly to step down as our Promise Champion Gala host." She also said that the foundation hopes that Megyn Kelly and NBC would have better sense and decide against broadcasting the interview.

A justifiable backlash

Although Kelly must be distraught at being barred from hosting the Promise Champion Gala; she and her NBC bosses must be far more worried about the financial repercussions of giving a platform to Alex Jones.

JP Morgan Chase is a major sponsor of NBC but after learning about the fact that Jones had been given a platform by the network, they decided to pull their advertising altogether. Although the company did not speak to the press, the chief marketing officer at JP Morgan Chase, Kristin Lemkau, shared her thoughts on her Twitter account.

(Tweet above).

On the other hand, Alex Jones also took to his Twitter account yesterday and asked Kelly to not air the interview since his views had been misrepresented in the interview. The tweet was accompanied by a video.