Why do some websites hijack "open in new tab"?

Just came across this annoyance reading an article at time.com. Unfortunately, this was not the first time I experience this, and I have a strong feeling it won't be the last.

Leaving aside discussions on whether this is horrible or not (hint: it often is), is there an actual reasoning why some websites break middle click, Ctrl + click, and otherwise attempts to open links in new tabs?