Oath has cancelled “The Morning Breath,” the company told TheWrap on Thursday. The decision comes one day after the show’s Instagram-famous hosts were revealed to be the daughters of anti-Islam commentator Pamela Geller.
“The Morning Breath, an Oath social media show, is being cancelled immediately and we have launched an internal investigation and will take other appropriate steps based on the results of the investigation,” an Oath spokesperson told TheWrap.
The show was hosted by the Oshry sisters — Claudia, Olivia, Margo, and Jackie — who The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday have went to “great lengths to conceal their connection to their mother.” Geller co-founded the American Freedom Defense Initiative, also known as the Stop Islamization of America organization, in 2010. The group says on its website it “acts against the treason being committed by national, state, and local government officials, the mainstream media, and others in their capitulation to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism.”
Geller gained notoriety in 2015 for hosting a “Draw Muhammad” contest, complete with a $10,000 prize, in a Dallas suburb. Two men were shot dead at the event after opening fire.
“There is a problem in Islam,” said Geller at the time. “The problem is we can’t talk about it.”
As the sisters have racked up millions of followers on social media, they’ve worked to keep their relationship to Geller a secret, according to The Daily Beast. Claudia is the most famous of the bunch, with her @Girlwithnojob Instagram account routinely posting memes — and racking up nearly 3 million followers in the process. Despite their efforts, reporter Taylor Lorenz spotted several since-deleted tweets from Claudia that hint at a similar mindset. “#OBAMA IS MUSLIM!!!! YA I SAID IT,” tweeted Claudia in 2012.
https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/968960188513443840
Following the report, Claudia issued a statement to The Daily Beast saying the sisters do not hold the same beliefs as their mother.
“We want to be clear to our audience and fans that our political and cultural beliefs are not anti-Muslim or anti-anyone,” said Claudia. “Our views are separate from our mother’s. Being raised by a single parent, we were taught to make our own choices based on our personal beliefs. We are inspired to think for ourselves and we do. We do not condone discrimination or racist beliefs of any kind.”
Oath’s swift cancellation comes just a month after CEO Tim Armstrong championed the sisters, as Recode’s Peter Kafka pointed out on Thursday.
Oath boss @tim_armstrong raved about the Oshry sisters and their Morning Breath show at #codemedia last month (24-minute mark) https://t.co/jdg2PxonR5 Then @TaylorLorenz made him cancel it. https://t.co/CHzGKHbCT0
— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) March 1, 2018
“Check out ‘The Morning Breath,’ I think it’s one of the most ground-breaking programs,” said Armstrong. “The Oshry sisters are some of the most talented people I’ve ever met. The impact they’re having in the younger news generation is going to be meaningful.”