Parkland activist David Hogg pulls out of a pillow venture, but the fight is still on
Two months after peppering Twitter with up-to-the-minute posts touting his pillow venture, Parkland student activist David Hogg has abandoned the fight.
Hogg, 20, took to his favorite platform on Saturday, April 10, to say he’s stepping down from his partnership with Los Angeles software developer and entrepreneur William LeGate. The pair announced in February that they were starting a pillow company to compete against MyPillow, the company led by conservative businessman Mike Lindell.
Lindell, founder and CEO of MyPillow, saw his pillow pulled by several major retailers after he voiced support for former President Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
Hogg and LeGate’s company gained a name, Good Pillow, but now LeGate’s going it alone, apparently.
“A couple weeks ago, a very spontaneous interaction over Twitter between me and William LeGate led to us trying to start a progressive pillow company,” Hogg wrote on Twitter Saturday. “We were met with immediate and overwhelming support. But I soon realized that given my activism, schoolwork, and family commitments, I could not give 100% to being a full time co-founder at Good Pillow.”
Hogg, who entered Harvard University in September 2019, thanked his supporters. He said he’s “allowing” LeGate to continue without him.
“I have resigned and released all shares, any ownership and any control of Good Pillow LLC. I want to thank Will for his partnership and wish him absolutely nothing but success with the future of Good Pillow.”
For his part, LeGate seems ready to continue with his efforts to bring Good Pillow to fruition. “Good Pillow is not going away,” he said Sunday on Twitter.
“He’s focusing on school,” LeGate said in another tweet. “Starting a company is a full time job & I told him he shouldn’t feel bad taking a step back. He can always come back when he’s ready.”
LeGate said he hoped to have Good Pillow ready for orders by July.
After learning of the pair’s plans, Lindell told Axios in February “Good for them ... nothing wrong with competition that does not infringe on someone’s patent.”
On Saturday, Insider reported that Lindell’s My Pillow had vanished from Costco’s website but had not said whether it had severed ties with the businessman.
Lindell also told Insider that 22 retailers — including Kohl’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond — had pulled his product, which, he said, could cost him $65 million in lost revenue. He told Insider he hoped his infomercials and radio ads could offset the losses.
Hogg was a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland when a gunman killed 17 students and staff members on Feb. 14, 2018.
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 10:06 AM.
