The National Rifle Association’s longtime advertising agency said it will no longer represent the gun group as the company faces a lawsuit from the NRA.
Ackerman McQueen, which has worked with the NRA since the 1980s and more recently created the dedicated streaming outlet NRATV, announced Wednesday it was severing ties, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
In a statement given to the publication, Ackerman said that “the NRA’s chaos led us to lose faith in the organization’s willingness to act on behalf of NRA’s mission.” The company accused the NRA of “leaks and innuendo,” and said Ackerman “will never fear the truth.”
In April, an attempted overthrow in the NRA’s top leadership backfired when then-President Oliver North attempted to boot CEO Wayne LaPierre. Board members chose instead to back LaPierre after North allegedly threatened to reveal damaging information.
“The extortion was simple: resign or there will be destructive allegations made against me and the NRA,” LaPierre wrote in a letter to the board at the time. “Alarmed and disgusted, I refused the offer.”
The attempted ouster came after a damning report by The Trace that showed Ackerman McQueen was paid more than $40 million in 2017 alone. Then, earlier this month, leaked NRA documents revealed the group is drowning in legal fees. Ackerman is now being sued by the NRA for what it’s calling an attempted “coup,” and Ackerman is countersuing by claiming the gun group was looking for frivolous reasons to cancel its contract.
The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.