The NRA has apparently fired its longtime ad firm, killed off NRATV

The National Rifle Association has officially severed ties with its estranged longtime advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, and shut down production at NRATV, its live broadcast media arm, The New York Times reports. It is not a friendly divorce.

The NRA told Ackerman CEO Revan McQueen in a note Tuesday night that it "regrets that a longstanding, formerly productive relationship comes to an end in this fashion," the Times reports. Ackerman responded that it's "not surprised that the NRA is unwilling to honor its agreement to end our contract and our long-standing relationship in an orderly and amicable manner," and it "will continue to fight against the NRA's repeated violations of its agreement with our company with every legal remedy available to us."

The NRA and Ackerman have been sparring since last summer, when the NRA started an audit of its outside contractors, and it broke into the open in April, when NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre accused the organization's president, Oliver North, of trying to extort him into resigning with the threat of releasing "a devastating account of our financial status." Oliver stepped down in April, and last week the NRA placed its chief lobbyist Christopher Cox, on administrative leave, accusing him of conspiring with North and Ackerman to oust LaPierre. Cox, the NRA's second-highest officer, was widely seen as a likely successor to LaPierre.

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Ackerman produced NRATV, and the NRA did not prohibit the broadcast of previous content but is on-air personalities, notably Dana Loesch, will no longer serve as a public face of the organization. "Many members expressed concern about the messaging on NRATV becoming too far removed from our core mission: defending the Second Amendment," LaPierre wrote in a message to members, the Times reports. "We are no longer airing 'live TV' programming."