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Prepare yourself for a Pride Month imbued with callous intolerance.

Fueled by right-wing media personalities and institutions like Fox News, conservatives are waging a ferocious war on companies that express support for the LGBTQ community, with hostilities against the celebration of gay rights swelling to levels not seen in many years. In effect, the supposedly anti-cancel culture crowd is leading the summer's biggest cancel culture campaign.

In recent weeks, right-wing media has smeared and incited boycotts against Bud Light and Target, two jumbo American brands that have been thrust into the center of the toxic culture wars. Both companies have been relentlessly attacked over their show of public support for the LGBTQ community. In recent days, The North Face, Kohl's, and Chick-fil-A have also come under assault in the expanding war. And Disney, of course, has been an endless punching bag since it spoke out against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill in Florida last year.

In the right-wing media universe, in which millions of Americans firmly reside, these companies have been portrayed as "woke" and evil corporations seeking to groom children with radical — even Satantic — gender ideology that will  corrupt their brains and ultimately lead to the destruction of society.

The attacks have put companies in the uncomfortable position of standing up for the values of their own employees and the public writ large against a relentless volley of threats of mass boycotts, lost revenue, and ultimately, long-term brand harm. With each offensive — and claimed victories — the activists wielding the pitchforks have become more emboldened and the business atmosphere more chilled.

Written in black and white, the attacks look deranged. But it is precisely what some of the loudest and most influential right-wing media figures are promoting to their large followings, with new self-generated outrage cycles generated daily. It isn't quite QAnon, but it's close — and it is being fed to the GOP base in broad daylight. You don't have to go to the dark corners of the internet to find this style of crazed commentary; it's available each day via mainstream right-wing outlets.

In many cases, prominent personalities are not even trying to be secretive about their end goal as they perhaps would have been done in years past. In fact, they are saying the quiet part aloud. The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, one of the leading purveyors of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in the U.S., has explicitly stated that the aim is to make the open embrace of the LGBTQ community harmful to brands.

"The goal is to make 'pride' toxic for brands," Walsh tweeted. "If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they'll gain. First Bud Light and now Target. Our campaign is making progress. Let’s keep it going."

It is important to remember that a not-so-insignificant portion of the American populace takes this rhetoric to heart. For the conservative news organizations and businesses that promote it, the rhetoric is profitable because it resonates with and excites their audiences. The articles generate clicks, videos attract eyeballs, and the content in general prompts significant engagement — the lifeblood of the internet.

Which is to say that this burgeoning facet of the culture wars, which is now unquestionably the most dominant strain, is not going away any time soon. In fact, with Pride Month about to get underway, and more brands showing their support for the LGBTQ community, expect more fronts to open up. As the right-wing media personalities leading this campaign have said: Bud Light and Target were just the beginning.

The Human Rights Campaign released a statement Wednesday, signed by more than 100 advocacy organizations and allies, condemning the right's use of the "extremist playbook of attacks."

"Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible," the coalition said. "These attacks fuel hate against LGBTQ+ people, just as we’ve seen this year with more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that restrict basic freedoms and aim to erase LGBTQ+ people."

———  BELOW THE FOLD  ———

Movement in May: Cable ratings are in for May — and they spelled bad news for both Fox News and CNN. Fox News, which angered its audience by firing Tucker Carlson, lost 32% of its total viewers in prime and 44% of its audience in the prime demo from April — a staggering blow to the right-wing network. CNN, which has been suffering from historically low ratings, sunk even further in May, down double digits from April in both total viewers (-16% in prime and -13% in total day) and those in the key 25-54 demo.

MSNBC and Newsmax were there to pick up the pieces from their respective competitors. While MSNBC also slid double digits in viewership from April (-12% in total prime and -10% in total day), it touted that it had beat CNN in total viewers and the key demo across total day and prime. The progressive network said that it had opened up the largest advantage in total day over CNN in its 27-year history. Newsmax also capitalized off of Fox News' decline. In the 8pm hour, which Carlson once helmed at Fox News, Newsmax's Eric Bolling saw his ratings balloon 81% in total viewers and 79% in the demo. AdWeek's AJ Katz has a fuller ratings breakdown here.

Insider Union's Intention: The Insider Union on Wednesday said that workers will strike if a contract with management is not reached by Thursday at 11:59pm. The union, which was angered by recent layoffs and changes to health care, is demanding increased pay for members, among other things. Insider spokesperson Mario Ruiz responded in a statement, telling me, "We respect our team's right to strike. We of course hope they don't. We believe we have put forth a strong proposal and look forward to soon completing negotiations." We'll see what happens.

Veritas' Vengeance: The bitter feud between Project Veritas and founder James O'Keefe is heading to court. The right-wing media organization sued O'Keefe on Wednesday, accusing its former leader of violating a non-disparagement agreement and misusing the organization's funds on "lavish" expenses, including $150,000 on luxury black-car services and a helicopter flight. "Being known as the founder of an organization does not entitle that person to run amok and put his own interests ahead of that organization," Project Veritas' complaint said, adding O'Keefe "must be held accountable." The WaPo's Will Sommer has the details here. 

Meta's Threat: Surprise, surprise! Meta is no fan of the California Journalism Preservation Act. The social media titan on Wednesday threatened to "remove news from Facebook and Instagram" in its home state if the proposed legislation becomes law. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone argued that the bill, which would force tech companies to share some of their profits with publishers, would create a "slush fund" that "primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies." Stone said it was "disappointing that California lawmakers appear to be prioritizing the best interests of national and international media companies over their own constituents." It goes without saying that there is support for the CJPA in California. Reuters' Katie Paul has more on the developing situation.

Ta Ta 'Ted Lasso': "Although not officially billed as a 'series finale,' 'Ted Lasso' surely reached what felt like the end of something, capping off the least appealing of its three seasons with an episode awash in sentimentality and heart," CNN's Brian Lowry writes. Whether the show goes on in some capacity is unclear, and Apple isn't saying. But it seems evident that this version of the hit series is complete. Read Lowry's full piece here.

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.