MyPillow's Mike Lindell is sponsoring anti-vaxxer Sherri Tenpenny, one of the 'disinformation dozen'
Octavio Jones/Reuters / Dr Sherri Tenpenny/Instagram
- Anti-vaxxer Dr Sherri Tenpenny has been receiving sponsorship from Mike Lindell's MyPillow.
- She touted his products on her Bible study chats, which center around vaccine misinformation.
- The deal showcases the growing alliance between election denialism and anti-vaccine sentiment.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell recently became a sponsor for the prominent anti-vaxxer Dr Sherri Tenpenny, an example of Lindell's growing penchant for funding fringe media figures.
Tenpenny told her nearly 27,000 Instagram followers, on the handle @happyhourwithdrt, of the arrangement on November 2.
"Our sponsor for this episode tonight of Happy Hour is MyPillow," she said, going on to call Lindell "the real deal, he's a great guy, he's got a great business."
In the broadcast she hyped MyPillow pillows and slippers, which she said she used herself, and offered a substantial discount via a promotional code.
MyPillow has veered toward direct-to-consumer sales since numerous big box stores cut ties, Lindell told Insider's Grace Dean in April. Podcasts and radio advertising are central to that strategy, he said.
Tenpenny highlighted that the arrangement helped her too.
"This is really important for the future longevity of our business," she said on the broadcast.
She has been edged off mainstream social media platforms over her posting of vaccine misinformation, as highlighted by Insider's previous reporting.
Tenpenny has featured MyPillow products on her website since at least June, Agence France-Presse reported, and promotions for the company have popped up in two of Tenpenny's October mailshots.
Neither Tenpenny nor MyPillow immediately responded to Insider's request for confirmation. It is unclear how much the sponsorship deal is worth.
Dr Sherri Tenpenny
Tenpenny is best known for her strident anti-vaccine views, which received a major boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Insider reported in August.
She was named by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as one of the "disinformation dozen" - a group of people responsible for sharing the majority of anti-vaccine misinformation online.
While @happyhourwithdrt presents itself as a Bible study and prayer group, she regularly uses it to air widely discredited claims about COVID-19 vaccines.
During a particularly exasperated September 16 session, she told her listeners to avoid hospitals and doctors because they are "murderers."
She has also used her platform there and on Telegram to cast doubt on the legitimacy of President Joe Biden's election, a cause Lindell has also championed.
Lindell is currently the subject of a lawsuit from voting-technology company Dominion over his claim it rigged the election. He denied the claim, and has counter-sued.
In June, Slate described Tenpenny as an "adviser" to the pillow salesman, without specifying any details of the arrangement.
Tenpenny may no longer get to promote MyPillow on Instagram, however. A spokesperson for Instagram told Insider that it had placed limits on her account for breaking its misinformation policies.
Those limits appear to be a temporary suspension from posting live video, according to a screenshot Tenpenny posted to her feed on November 4. The company previously removed several of her posts that contained misinformation, the spokesperson said.
It is unclear if the MyPillow sponsorship will follow her over to CloutHub, where she told her listeners she would relocate the @happyhourwithdrt sessions.
Lindell and Tenpenny met, she said, at sessions of the "ReAwaken America" tour, which as The Guardian reported showed a growing alliance between conservative Christians, Trump supporters and anti-vaccine activists.
Lindell, she said on November 2, is "suffering from cancel culture." She predicted that MyPillow products will not be in big box stores come Christmas because of it.
Two major retailers, Kohls and Bed Bath & Beyond, told The Financial Times last year that they dropped the brand over poor sales rather than politics, however.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3D3319X
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