National Rifle Association Shuts Down NRATV Amid Legal Battle With Ad Firm

The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced the end of its online news show, NRATV, amid a financial and legal battle with its advertising firm Ackerman McQueen.

Last week, the NRA stated that it was cutting ties with its online media arm, as well as enacting a complete break with Ackerman McQueen, the ad firm that had worked with the NRA for decades. The president of the group, Wayne LaPierre, announced that many in the association were becoming uncomfortable with the content of NRATV. “Many members expressed concern about the messaging on NRATV becoming too far removed from our core mission: defending the Second Amendment,” LaPierre wrote in a message to members on Wednesday. “So, after careful consideration, I am announcing that starting today, we are undergoing a significant change in our communications strategy. We are no longer airing ‘live TV’ programming.”

The shutdown also comes amid a tense legal fight between the NRA and Ackerman McQueen as the ad firm accuses the rifle association of failing to pay $1.6 million in invoices and the NRA accuses the ad firm of scamming it out of tens of millions of dollars. The National Rifle Association claimed that Ackerman McQueen engaged in troubling and secretive financial behavior with previous NRA president Oliver North that had cost the gun rights group millions.

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“Ackerman McQueen is not surprised that the NRA is unwilling to honor its agreement to end our contract and our long-standing relationship in an orderly and amicable manner, as Ackerman McQueen proposed because we believed it was in the best interest of the members of the NRA,” the firm said in a statement. “When given the opportunity to do the right thing, the NRA once again has taken action that we believe is intended to harm our company even at the expense of the NRA itself. For Ackerman McQueen, it is time to move on to a new chapter without the chaos that has enveloped the NRA. Ackerman McQueen will continue to fight against the NRA’s repeated violations of its agreement with our company with every legal remedy available to us, but we will always be proud of the work that we completed during our 38-year relationship on behalf of the individual citizens that are the NRA.”

Article by Daniel Knopf