About
MyPillow is a pillow and bedding company founded by right-wing political activist and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell in 2009. He is still the CEO of the company based in Chaska, Minnesota. Commercial corporate databases placed MyPillow’s revenue at nearly $270 million for 2021. However, Lindell said in April 2021 that his company had lost $65 million in revenue due to his affiliation with Trump and his promotion of baseless conspiracy theories related to election fraud.
January 6, 2021
- MyPillow helped provide financial support for the rallies in Washington that led to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The company sponsored a bus tour organized by Women for America First, an ultra-conservative nonprofit that promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election and encouraged Trump supporters to travel to the nation’s capital to protest on the day Congress was due to certify the Electoral College results.
- After the insurrection, activists called on retailers to remove MyPillow products from their inventory due to Lindell’s response to the riot, which included saying he wanted “everybody praying” for those who stormed the Capitol.
The Big Lie
- Following the 2020 election, MyPillow released promotional discount codes with politically motivated messages (such as “FightforTrump,” “QAnon” and “Proof”) suggesting that Biden’s win was illegitimate.
- MyPillow is a sponsor of Right Side Broadcasting (RSB), a network primarily known for broadcasting Trump’s rallies and speeches, and giving him another platform for spreading lies about election fraud. YouTube has suspended RSB at times for disseminating misleading information.
- In January 2022, voting machine company Smartmatic filed a lawsuit against both MyPillow and Lindell for defamation and deceptive trade practices. Lindell had claimed Smartmatic and other voting machines used in the 2020 election had switched votes from Trump to Biden. “These facts do not matter to Mr. Lindell,” said a spokesperson for Smartmatic, “because he knows he can sell a preconceived story about voting machines stealing democracy by stealing votes from a president who is incredibly popular with millions of Americans.”
- While Smartmatic’s lawsuit is pending, Lindell attempted to countersue but his claims were dismissed as frivolous by Judge Carl Nichols, a U.S. district judge in Washington, D.C.