Earlier this month, a rift between The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro and host Candace Owens became public as the two traded increasingly personal barbs over differing views on the Israel-Hamas war.
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Jeremy Boreing, co-CEO of The Daily Wire and director of Lady Ballers, to discuss the value of having a free exchange of ideas and where things stand between the two.
The Drama
The drama between the conservative commentators began earlier this month when a X user posted a video showing Shapiro criticizing Owens over her stance on Israel at a private event. “I think her behavior during this has been disgraceful, without a doubt,” he said in the clip. “I think that her faux sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous.”
It is believed Shapiro’s remarks were a response to a tweet from Owens in which she said, in part, “no government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide, ever.” While she didn’t mention Israel by name, many thought it was implied.
After the video of Shapiro went public, Owens posted a series of Bible verses on X – including one that said “you cannot serve both God and money.” Shapiro responded that she should “by all means quit” if “taking money from The Daily Wire somehow comes between you and God.”
That led Owens to accuse Shapiro of “acting unprofessional and emotionally unhinged for weeks now.” She also said he was “utterly out of line for suggesting that I cannot quote biblical scripture.” In an interview with Tucker Carlson that premiered soon after, Owens called Shapiro’s comments “ad-hominem attacks” that she couldn’t respond to “on a level of intellect.”
In Megyn’s view, there is but one way to describe the back and forth. “It’s all very awkward,” she said.
Jeremy Boreing Responds
As Boreing shared, he was filming a movie in Europe while the situation was unfolding. While he admitted the disagreements would have been better handled privately, he said these sorts of conflicts are to be expected when “employ people and give them a platform to give their opinion.”
It is not necessary, he said, that upper management agrees with every thing every commentator says or does. “We empower them to be passionate with those opinions and sometimes those passions are going to get turned in the wrong direction,” he explained. “In this particular case, you have two very articulate and passionate people in Ben and Candace, whose conflict of visions on this issue spilled out into the public square.”
He reiterated that Owens, who is currently on maternity leave, will not face repercussions. “Candace has expressed opinions that I disagree with… but that’s well within her right as an opinion host at The Daily Wire,” Boreing said. “If Candace said on the air things that Kanye West was saying a year ago [about Jewish people], I would have to step in or whoever was operating the company at the time would have to step in. But that’s not what Candace has done.”
The net-net: “As far as I know, Candace isn’t quitting and, no, Daily Wire is not firing Candace for having an opinion that Ben Shapiro disagrees with or that Jeremy Boreing disagrees with,” he concluded. “My encouragement to both of them is to have these disputes as colleagues behind the scenes.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Boreing by tuning in to episode 677 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.