Amy Schumer has cancelled at least one interview on her press tour for her upcoming film, “I Feel Pretty,” because the station is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group.
Schumer had a spot scheduled with Arlington, Va. ABC affiliate WJLA, but a representative for the comedian confirmed that it was cancelled.
Buzzfeed also reported that Schumer would prefer to avoid working with Sinclair-owned stations whenever possible.
Sinclair, the largest owner of local television stations in the United States (173), came under fire recently when a viral Deadspin video showed anchors on multiple stations nationwide reading the same statement on “biased” news.
How America’s largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump’s war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018
Sinclair executive Scott Livingstone defended the move. “It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable.”
President Trump also defended the company.
So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2018