Political commentator Steven Crowder has announced he will join video platform Rumble for his popular show.
“We’re betting on ourselves and hedging our bets because Rumble actually supports what we do. There’s gonna be some headaches,” Crowder joked. “Not everyone’s gonna thrilled with this. YouTube’s gonna be pissed.”
The agreement between Crowder and Rumble ends a very public search for a new home for the conservative host. Crowder publicly clashed with The Daily Wire over it’s offer to him.
“I believe many of those in the right-leaning media are actually at odds with what’s best for you — the viewer, the customer — and more importantly the country,” Crowder said, without naming the digital outlet co-founded by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing.
In response, Boreing posted a nearly hourlong video to YouTube refuting some of the claims made by Crowder.
“Steven’s been my friend for 10 years. I think he’s maybe the most talented person working in the conservative media space,” Boreing said. “He’s one of the top entertainers in the country, politics notwithstanding. I find it really tragic that we’re having this kind of conversation.”
Boreing confirmed the company offered Crowder a 4-year, $50 million contract, with a two-year option for an additional $25 million. However, the contract had stipulations about how often Crowder could pre-record his program, and also featured clauses that would strip him of earnings should he fail to meet show totals in a given year.
“I went into free agency, I looked over the offers, and I saw the claws come out,” Crowder said of the demands at the time. “I don’t just mean unreasonable demands for control, but what I would argue are immoral terms that actually punish conservative content creators on behalf of big tech.”
After the announcement of his agreement with Rumble was made public, the platform shared a photo of Crowder’s plaque commemorating hitting the 1 million YouTube subscriber mark placed prominently in a bathroom at the video platform’s headquarters. The plaque was riddled with bullet holes.
