Late last month, The Daily Wire announced it had parted ways with host Candace Owens. CEO Jeremy Boreing posted on X that the media company and commentator had “ended their relationship.”
No further reason was given for the split, but Owens had publicly traded barbs on social media with Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over their differing views on the Israel-Hamas war. More recently, she reportedly ‘liked’ a post on X about an antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims rabbis drink the blood of Christians.
On Monday’s show, Shapiro joined Megyn to discuss his new project, The Divided States of Biden, and shed some light on Owens’ departure.
The Controversy
The Daily Wire-Candace Owens split made headlines across the internet – not just on left-of-center platforms – because, in Megyn’s words, “the right loves to eat its own.”
This situation, she said, offered an opportunity to do just that. “It’s like either Ben is bad or Candace is bad, but somebody is bad,” she explained. “The right likes to… eat their own because they have absolutely no instinct for self-preservation or keeping their own coalition together.”
Due to the so-called ‘feud’ between Owens and Shapiro, many also speculated as to whether or not that played a role in the decision to part ways. “It has now spawned into a debate about whether The Daily Wire is pro-free speech,” Megyn said. “The accusation is you are, until it comes to Israel.”
Ben Shapiro Responds
Shapiro said hosts and commentators that work for The Daily Wire are not of one opinion on any topic, Israel included. “We have a wide variety of positions on Israel right now inside The Daily Wire,” he said. “Matt Walsh… and I wildly disagree about what America’s Israel policy should be. Matt is much more isolationist. He basically believes the United States has no real interest in the Middle East and, thus, the United States should not be providing material support to anyone, including the state of Israel.”
Walsh, Shapiro noted, is still employed. “Matt obviously is well within, you know, the sort of group of hosts that we have here at The Daily wire, so clearly whatever is going on is not about Israel specifically,” he added. “That is really all I have to say about it as far as the free speech of it.”
As Shapiro explained, he views The Daily Wire as “a publisher” rather than a “a platform,” which means certain parameters exist. “I would never call for anyone to be ousted from an actual platform like X – even people who are, I think, absolutely horrific human beings,” he said. “I’ve never called for any of them to be axed. In fact, I’m calling for them to have their accounts restored if they’re banned.”
He sees publishing, however, in a different way. “When it comes to publishers, publishers obviously have to decide what sort of things they wish to pay for the publication of,” Shapiro said. “And when it comes to hosts and publishers parting ways, obviously there will be a non meeting of the minds. That’s pretty much all I can say on that.”
‘Pro-Free Speech’
Megyn quipped that these situations are why she likes “to just be on my own little island here.” But she also said that she has always enjoyed her partnerships with The Daily Wire. “I’ve never found you guys anything other than pro-free speech and in defense of it, but that doesn’t mean you have to be in business… with people no matter what they say,” she said.
Ultimately, Megyn thinks this decision will be best for all those involved. “I think Candace will do fine on her own,” she concluded. “It wasn’t a good match, and I, for one, applaud the separation for a number of reasons.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Shapiro by tuning in to episode 754 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.