Conservative YouTube star and comedian Steven Crowder is feuding with right-wing media mogul Ben Shapiro after rejecting a multimillion-dollar contract offer.
Crowder revealed on Tuesday's broadcast of his "Louder with Crowder" program that a conservative media company that viewers deduced was The Daily Wire had sent him a contract offer, which he complained had included "penalties" if his show was demonetized, suspended, or removed from major hosting site, reported The Daily Beast.
“If any of the major platforms (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify) issues a content strike (other than a ‘companywide’ content strike) such that Crowder content cannot be monetized on such platform, and the company is not able to resolve the issue within 90 days, then the fee will be reduced by 25% from that point forward,” read that portion of the contract Crowder shared with his audience.
“Now, I thought this was a mistake because, you know, these people maybe didn't know who I am, that we've been demonetized for three years,” he complained. “No, it's made very clear to me in no uncertain terms, this is what's sent out to everybody.”
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Crowder complained “Big Tech is in bed with Big Con,” and The Daily Wire's chief executive Jeremy Boreing posted an hourlong response video confirming the online network he operates with Shapiro had offered the podcaster $50 million, but he said the penalties were standard contract language to protect his site from losses if advertisers fled Crowder's program.
“Steven’s philosophy appears to be: ‘I deserve to be paid millions and millions and millions of dollars whether my show drives the revenue or not.’ That’s not a business relationship,” Boreing said in his video. “He’s looking for a benefactor.”
Boreing added that terms rejected by Crowder could have been negotiated in a subsequent draft, and he called the "public dispute" one of “saddest things he has had to face.”
