Relevant magazine founder Cameron Strang sent the faith-focused internet into a bit of a whirlwind Friday afternoon, when he revealed a major charity tied to the Rev. Franklin Graham decided to cut ties with his outlet over its “critical” coverage of the evangelist.
In an Instagram post, Strang explained Relevant lost its advertising deal with Samaritan’s Purse, a nonprofit charity of which Graham serves as president, and Operation Christmas Child due to some of his magazine’s reporting.
Most recently, Relevant published an article outlining Graham’s statements about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who this week testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Ford, now a 51-year-old psychology professor based in California, claimed Kavanaugh attempted to molest her during a party the two allegedly attended when they were teenagers.
Franklin Graham Weighs In on Sexual Assault Claims Against Kavanaugh
Graham, in an interview with CBN News, said it’s “a shame” someone like Kavanaugh, “who has a stellar record,” could face such intense scrutiny and attacks over something that’s “not relevant” because it occurred nearly 40 years ago.
“There wasn’t a crime committed,” Graham continued. “These are two teenagers and it’s obvious that she said no and he respected it and walked away.”
Thanks man. OCC was a big advertiser past holiday seasons (& it’s tough to risk revenue in media today), but they didn’t like our coverage of FG’s extremism & pulled out. I’ll never let ? affect editorial autonomy or conviction. I can sleep just fine on the right side of history
— Cameron Strang (@cameronstrang) September 28, 2018
However, regardless of Graham’s comments or Relevant’s reporting, a spokesperson for Samaritan’s Purse told Faithwire the North Carolina-based charity makes annual decisions regarding its advertising budget.
Ultimately, the organization decided to invest its money in other ways.
“Every year, Samaritan’s Purse makes decisions about how to best use our advertising budget when faced with many options,” the spokesperson said. “This year, we determined it would be more strategic to invest those resources elsewhere.”