What happened between Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro?

Conservative commentator Candace Owens’ very public feud with her ex-boss Ben Shapiro culminated in March with Owens being booted from the Daily Wire.

The duo’s alliance became increasingly strained in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza, as Shapiro staunchly advocated in support of Israel, frequently making bombastic X posts, while Owens took another view and separately espoused antisemitic tropes.

In the weeks leading up to her ouster—the exact details of which are unknown—Owens claimed “secret Jewish gangs” commit “horrific things” on people in Hollywood and liked an X post promoting a conspiracy theory that falsely accuses Jews of killing Christians to use their blood in rituals.

Shapiro, for his part, routinely dismissed calls for Israel to end its invasion of Gaza.

Ben Shapiro Candace Owens feud

As the pair butted heads on their views on Israel—with Owens in November calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide”—Owens appeared to take a crack at her employer, hinting at an antisemitic trope about Jews and money in the process.

“I think she’s been absolutely disgraceful,” Shapiro said of Owen’s stances on Israel the same month. “I think that her faux-sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous.”

After Shapiro’s comments, Owen wrote, without specifically naming him, “​​You cannot serve both God and money.”

While Jeremy Boreing, the chief executive of Daily Wire, ultimately announced on March 22 that the outlet had "ended their relationship" with Owens, the lead-up to her departure did not mark the first time she had feuded with Shapiro.

In 2022, Shapiro rebuked Owens for retweeting a post from Max Blumenthal, an anti-Zionist Jew, saying that American Jews' affluence threatens Israel because "Zionism relies on Jewish insecurity to justify itself."

"I think the ADL is a partisan hack organization, too. But RTing Max Blumenthal, who spends his life covering for Jew-haters and stumping for Israel's destruction, makes the conversation significantly worse," Shapiro said. "It's garbage."

Shapiro's 2022 criticism came against the backdrop of Owens defending Kanye West after his "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE" post. While Shapiro did not call Owens out by name, he characterized West's post as "clearly anti-Semitic and disturbing."

The bad blood between the two prominent right-wing pundits hasn't appeared to dissipate in any way since Owens' departure.

In early April, Owens challenged Shapiro to debate "Israel and the *current* definition of antisemitism." Shapiro agreed and offered a date, but the pair (plus Boreing) ended up going back and forth several times about the timing and a potential moderator.

The debate has yet to occur, but if and when it does, it probably won't put the feud to bed.

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