Candace Owens #

Introduction #

Conservative commentator Candace Owens and The Daily Wire parted ways on March 22, 2024, when Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing posted on X that “Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship” without elaborating on the circumstances. The split capped months of public feuding between Owens and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over her coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, during which she promoted commentary increasingly regarded as antisemitic. Owens confirmed the departure the same day, telling her 4.8 million followers on X, “The rumors are true — I am finally free,” and promising “many announcements in the weeks to come.”

Background Information #

Owens was born April 29, 1989, in White Plains, New York, and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. She rose to prominence in conservative activism in the late 2010s, serving as communications director for Turning Point USA from 2017 to 2019 and co-founding the BLEXIT Foundation, which urged Black Americans to leave the Democratic Party, in 2018. After hosting “The Candace Owens Show” on PragerU, she joined The Daily Wire in 2021, where her weekday commentary show “Candace” premiered on March 19, 2021, and became one of the outlet’s flagship programs.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians, Owens had become increasingly critical of Israel’s military response in Gaza, putting her at odds with Shapiro, a firm supporter of Israel. In November 2023 she posted, “No government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide, ever. There is no justification for a genocide. I can’t believe this even needs to be said or is even considered the least bit controversial to state,” comments that appeared directed at Israel. Shapiro was seen in a TikTok clip calling her behavior “absolutely disgraceful,” and during the online spat urged her, “By all means, quit.”

Much of the controversy centered on commentary perceived as antisemitic. On her Daily Wire show she said a Jewish “gang” in Hollywood was committing “horrific things” and suggested “Jews are going to be blamed” if TikTok were banned, and earlier in the week of her exit she liked an X post promoting the conspiracy theory that Jews were “drunk on Christian blood.” Wikipedia notes the liked post was an apparent reference to the antisemitic blood libel accusation and that The Daily Wire announced it was ending its association with Owens a few days after she liked the tweet. Older comments also resurfaced: at a 2018 Turning Point UK event, Owens said of nationalism, “If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine,” a remark she later clarified after heavy criticism.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The feud had been simmering publicly for months. In November 2023, while on a leave of absence, Boreing posted “In my current capacity, I cannot fire Candace Owens,” adding that the company shared “a desire not to regulate the speech of our hosts, even when we disagree with them,” and concluded Owens’ job was “secure” unless her “opinions run afoul of the law or she violates the terms of her contract in some way.” The day before the announcement, Owens told Charlamagne tha God on “The Breakfast Club” that Shapiro “doesn’t have the power to fire me.”

The Anti-Defamation League condemned Owens in a Thursday post, saying “White supremacist & Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes is praising Candace Owens’ vitriolic antisemitism,” adding that “when bigoted people come together to push an antisemitic agenda, it adds fuel to the fire of hate.” Fuentes said on his Rumble show that Owens “has been in a full-fledged war against the Jews.” Owens denied knowing Fuentes, telling the ADL, “My crime is having stood up for myself against your network of smears,” and added, “I am grateful they have turned their smear merchant guns on me. The world already knows my heart.”

Current Status #

After leaving, Owens said she would bring her show back on her personal YouTube channel “after a brief hiatus” and directed supporters to CandaceOwens.com or a donation page on the Revv platform. She has since run her own YouTube channel independently, which had over 6 million subscribers as of June 2026. In February 2025 she announced a media series titled “Harvey Speaks” about Harvey Weinstein, saying she had been in contact with him by phone and that he was “wrongfully convicted” of rape and sexual assault. She has continued to criticize Israel — accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of killing children and calling Israel’s actions “a holocaust that is being committed on Palestinian children and women” — and, per Wikipedia, disavowed Trump and the MAGA movement in 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The departure ended Owens’ three-year run at one of the largest conservative media outlets, removing her weekday platform, its live studio audience, and its production support. The episode also cemented a reputation that followed her: Variety reported the exit came after “months of tensions between her and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over her promotion of various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” and Wikipedia describes Owens as having espoused antisemitic tropes since 2023 while promoting conspiracy theories throughout her career. The split did not end her career, however. She rebuilt independently on YouTube, kept a large following, and by late 2025 her criticism of Israel had grown her popularity among Arab media outlets — a sign that the fallout from the Daily Wire exit redefined her audience rather than eliminated it.