Fans boycott CMT after it urges viewers to wear orange to support Bloomberg-backed gun control: ‘Anti-gun propaganda disguised as virtue’

Social media users are vowing to stop watching CMT after it urged viewers to "Wear Orange" to support National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

The ViacomCBS-owned network tweeted its plea on Friday, ahead of Wednesday's annual CMT Music Awards in Nashville.

What are the details?

"Wear Orange," an initiative from Everytown for Gun Safety — which is backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — was set in motion after the 2013 shooting death of a Chicago 15-year-old.

According to the organization's website, "Orange is the color that Hadiya Pendleton's friends wore in her honor when she was shot and killed in Chicago at the age of 15 — just one week after performing at President Obama's 2nd inaugural parade in 2013."

"After her death, they asked us to stand up, speak out, and Wear Orange to raise awareness about gun violence," the organization wrote in its mission statement.

More from the site:

Since then orange has been the defining color of the gun violence prevention movement. New York gun violence prevention advocate Erica Ford spearheaded orange as the color of peace through her work with her organization, Life Camp, Inc. Whether it's worn by students in Montana, activists in New York, or Hadiya's loved ones in Chicago, the color orange honors the more than 100 lives cut short and the hundreds more wounded by gun violence everyday.

Our movement gains momentum when gun sense activists come together to fight for a future free from gun violence. Wear Orange originated on June 2, 2015—what would have been Hadiya's 18th birthday. Now, it is observed nationally on the first Friday in June and the following weekend each year. This year, National Gun Violence Awareness Day will be June 4, 2021.

Wear Orange Weekend is an opportunity for us to show the country just how powerful we are. But the work doesn't end there. Everytown and our partner organizations continue to do life-saving work so that we can get closer to realizing a future free from gun violence. We wear orange to be seen, and demand that we be heard. Support us by going orange.

On Friday, CMT tweeted its support of the movement, writing, "We're (virtually) wearing orange today in support [sic] National Gun Violence Awareness Day and to call attention to the more than 100 lives that are lost every day to gun violence. #WearOrange and visit wearorange.org for more."

What was the reaction?

One user responded, "This is anti-gun propaganda disguised as virtue. CMT has gone down the drain with all other corporations who sell out to Woke extremists."

Another user added, "I for one, will not ever watch any station who champions any campaign against the 2nd Amendment, which is what CMT just did. You'd think they would know their audiance [sic], but you put woke idiots in charge, and you get stupidity."

"@CMT and @NASCAR have both forgotten who their core audience is again I see," another commenter complained.

Another user took aim at the network for supporting the movement.

"I wish you'd (virtually) stop supporting @MikeBloomberg's anti #2A agenda which prevents everyone, including women and minorities, a chance to defend themselves, especially during efforts to defund police, leaving many people vulnerable to violence," the user wrote.

Another commenter added, "Every day guns save innocent lives ... You might not understand who your audience is, but an overwhelming majority are gun owners ..."

"Rest assured I'll never subscribe or watch anything else sponsored by you ... The 2nd amendment is still there. Get off this soapbox before you find yourself in the dustbin of history," another user demanded.