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Steven Crowder
Crowder in 2019
Born
Steven Blake Crowder

(1987-07-07) July 7, 1987 (age 37)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.[1]
CitizenshipCanada · United States
Occupation(s)Political commentator, media host, comedian
Years active1999–present
Political partyRepublican
SpouseHilary Crowder (m. 2012)
YouTube information
Subscribers5.77 million Edit this at Wikidata
(April 2024)
100,000 subscribers2015
1,000,000 subscribers2017
Websitelouderwithcrowder.com
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Steven Blake Crowder (/ˈkraʊdər/; born July 7, 1987) is an American-Canadian political commentator, media host, and comedian.[2][3] He hosts the YouTube channel and podcast Louder with Crowder, where he gives his opinion on sociopolitical issues in the U.S and their solutions. He is also a former contributor at Fox News.

In June 2019, Crowder's YouTube videos were investigated over his repeated use of racist and homophobic slurs to describe journalist Carlos Maza.[4] The channel was not suspended, with YouTube saying, "the videos as posted don't violate our policies".[5][6] His channel was demonetized the next day, with YouTube noting this could be reversed if Crowder addressed "all of the issues" with his channel, citing community guidelines.[6] His channel was re-monetized in August of 2020.[7]

Early life and career

Crowder was born on July 7, 1987 in Detroit, Michigan. Crowder's mother was French Canadian, and at the age of 3, his family moved to Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada where he would live for the rest of his childhood.[8][9] Crowder attended Centennial Regional High School, and at the age of 18, he moved back to the United States.[10][11] Crowder describes himself as a pro-life Christian conservative.[12] Early in his career, he worked as a voice actor for the character Alan "The Brain" Powers on the children's television series Arthur.[13] He began performing stand-up comedy at age 17. He then acted in a number of films, including the role of Doug Moore in the 2009 movie To Save a Life. From 2009 to 2012, Crowder worked for Fox News.[14] Crowder creates mainly comedic content and political commentary on his YouTube channel.[15][16]

Political activity

By 2009, Crowder regularly posted satirical videos on politically conservative media, including Pajamas Media[17] and later at Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood. Crowder served as the master of ceremonies at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference,[18] and generated some controversy with a rap video he premiered at CPAC 2012.[19] In October 2012, Crowder's YouTube video parodying Lena Dunham's ad endorsing Barack Obama was mentioned in the conservative magazine The American Spectator.[20] In 2016, Crowder created a short video for the conservative website PragerU in which he criticizes democratic socialism as being little to no different from Marxism.[21]

December 2012 union protest

In December 2012, Crowder and members of Americans for Prosperity were involved in an altercation at a demonstration in Michigan concerning the state's recently passed right-to-work law.[22] The incident began with an attempt by union activists to tear down the Americans for Prosperity tent, which was eventually successful. During the altercation, Crowder was punched several times by a union activist. Crowder posted an edited video of the incident to his YouTube channel that cut footage of the alleged assailant being pushed to the ground and getting back up, right before throwing the punches at Crowder. However, Fox News' broadcasts of the incident included footage of the man being pushed. The New York Times stated, "The same footage also shows that Mr. Crowder had his hand on that man's shoulder just before he tumbled to the ground, but, while the camera does not capture the whole sequence of events, it seems likely that the man was knocked to the ground as members of the two sides pushed against one other, not shoved down by Mr. Crowder."[23] Crowder later released an unedited copy of the video.[24]

An AFL–CIO spokesman, Eddie Vale, stated that the organization did not condone the tearing down of the Americans for Prosperity tent or the violence against Crowder and his group.[25]

In March 2013, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III declined to press charges against anyone involved in the December 2012 altercation. According to Dunnings, his office was originally sent an edited version of the video of Crowder's altercation. However, upon reviewing the unedited version, the prosecutor's office decided not to pursue the case.[26] Dunnings stated that, "It's pretty clear the person that they wanted to charge was acting in self-defense."[27]

After Fox News

In October 2013, Fox News dropped Crowder. This was announced shortly after Crowder made negative statements about Fox News host Sean Hannity and about Fox News.[16] In 2017, the Louder with Crowder program became a daily program featured on Conservative Review's new streaming service, CRTV. On December 3rd, 2018, CRTV merged with Glenn Beck's TheBlaze, where Crowder continues to be hosted.[28]

Change My Mind meme

File:Steven Crowder Change My Mind meme.jpg
The Change My Mind meme taken from another view.

'Change My Mind' is an Internet meme that originated from a photograph of Crowder seated behind a sign that reads "Male Privilege is a Myth / Change My Mind".[29][30][31] Crowder set up the table outside the campus of Texas Christian University and invited students walking by to change his mind on the subject, as part of a regular segment Crowder performs on his YouTube channel and podcast, where he sits at a table with a sign including the phrase "Change My Mind".[32] After Crowder uploaded it on his Twitter account on February 18, 2018, the photograph quickly became a means for others to change the signs about different situations, often mocking and parodying Crowder.[33]

In June 2018, Complex rated the meme at 18 on their list of "The Best Memes of 2018 (so far)".[34]

Investigation by YouTube

In June 2019, YouTube investigated Crowder for using racist and homophobic slurs targeting Carlos Maza in multiple videos reacting to the Vox series Strikethrough, which Maza hosts. Crowder referred to Maza as "Mr. Lispy queer", an "angry little queer", and a "gay Mexican", and mocked him with a stereotypical gay voice, sometimes while wearing a t-shirt with Che Guevara on it that said "Socialism is for f*gs [sic]".[4] In addition, Maza said that Crowder's fans have doxxed and harassed him.[35]

Crowder responded with a video where he said his use of slurs was "playful ribbing" and that "it's funny, it's a comedy show". He said that the investigation was a "war we will fight to the bitter end" and that "this is an example of a giant, multinational media conglomeration ... attempting to squash a competitor". He also stated that he is opposed to doxxing and harassment.[36][37] After YouTube's demonetization of his videos, Crowder stated on his Twitter account, "Vox is still going to be pissed; they're not going to be happy with this", and called the situation a brewing "Adpocalypse". He also added "their goal is to completely get rid of people" in reference to Vox.[38]

According to an analysis by Vox Media's The Verge, Crowder's videos "routinely contain egregious violations of YouTube's policies against cyberbullying".[39] Maza said Crowder's videos about him are "dehumanizing, and it's something I thought YouTube would be more protective about because it brands itself as being a queer space".[4] Vox editors Lauren Williams and Joe Posner also tweeted in defence of Maza, stating "our efforts to protect Carlos and others from historically marginalized groups from being silenced or driven from the platform by incessant harassment are in line with these values", in reference to political debate and free speech.[40] In response to this tweet, political commentator Ben Shapiro spoke out in defense of Crowder, tweeting, "This, right here, from @voxdotcom EIC Lauren Williams and Head of Video Joe Posner, is a vile lie. Maza has not been silenced in any way. The only people seeking to silence are those who demand Crowder be deplatformed because Maza's precious feelings were supposedly hurt."[40]

YouTube concluded that the language used by Crowder "was clearly hurtful", but "the videos as posted don't violate our policies". It determined that Crowder had not encouraged his viewers to harass or dox Maza either on YouTube or other platforms and that the main point of his video was to respond to opinion.[5] The decision to not suspend the channel drew considerable criticism.[4] The next day, YouTube suspended the channel's monetization, blaming "a pattern of egregious actions [that] harmed the broader community".[41] The decision to demonetize Crowder's account was criticized by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who had previously appeared on Crowder's show.[42]

In August of 2020, Youtube re-monetized Crowder's content on Youtube, notably after Crowder made a number of changes to items on his set and moved some content off-platform.[7]

Coronavirus misinformation

In April 2020, Crowder suggested that coronavirus case numbers were inflated, accusing leftists at hospitals of labeling any deaths as caused by COVID-19.[43] At the time, experts said that coronavirus case numbers were likely undercounted, not overcounted.[43] Crowder was among the conservative pundits who shared a Medium blog post titled "Covid-19 — Evidence Over Hysteria" by Aaron Ginn, a product manager, which argued against the severity of the coronavirus pandemic; experts and epidemiologists debunked the blog post and Medium ultimately took it down.[44]

Personal life

Crowder married his wife, Hilary, in August 2012, and wrote about the benefits of remaining abstinent prior to his marriage.[45]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2000–2001 Arthur Alan 'The Brain' Powers Voice
2000 Arthur's Perfect Christmas
2001 Two Summers Friend
2004 Arthur's Halloween Alan 'The Brain' Powers Voice
2005 3 Needles Depanneur Manager
2006 The Covenant Party Kid
2007 The Secret Classroom Boy
2008 Bend & Break Blake
The Velveteen Rabbit Baseball Boy #1
2009 To Save a Life Doug Moore
2017 A YouTube Carol Ebenezer YouTube

References

  1. ^ "#498 WE'RE DEMONETIZED!". YouTube. StevenCrowder. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  2. ^ Steven Crowder [@scrowder] (February 20, 2014). "Allow me to clarify. I have dual-citizenship with the USA and Canada" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Steven Crowder, conservative comedian, draws Prophet Muhammad on YouTube channel". Washington Times. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Rosenburg, Eli (June 4, 2019). "A right-wing YouTuber hurled racist, homophobic taunts at a gay reporter. The company did nothing". Washington Post. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Gajanan, Mahita (June 5, 2019). "YouTube Says Homophobic Harassment Targeting a Popular Host Doesn't Violate Its Policies". Time. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Nett, Danny (June 8, 2019). "Is YouTube Doing Enough To Stop Harassment Of LGBTQ Content Creators?". NPR. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Crowder, Steven. "VICTORY! LwC's Remonetized! #CrowderRemonetized Stream | Bryan Callen Guests | Good Morning #MugClub". Youtube. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "BONUS: America Is Superior | Change My Mind". YouTube. Steven Crowder. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  9. ^ Shapiro, Ben. "Steven Crowder | The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 19". YouTube. Ben Shapiro. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  10. ^ "THE 'LOUDERWITHCROWDER' TEAM REMEMBERS: WHERE WE WERE ON 9/11". louderwithcrowder.com. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  11. ^ "Male Privilege Is A Myth (2nd Edition) | Change My Mind". YouTube. Steven Crowder. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  12. ^ March 17, 2017. "Yes, I am a pro-life, Christian Conservative..." Twitter. Retrieved: March 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "Behind the Voice Steven Crowder". Behind the Voice. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Dickson, Caitlin (November 3, 2013). "The Unmaking of a Conservative Pundit". The Daily Beast.
  15. ^ "Popular comic to help raise funds for county GOP women". The Courier. February 20, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Dickson, Caitlin (November 3, 2013). "The Unmaking of a Conservative Pundit". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  17. ^ "Pajamas TV Reporter Tracks Stimulus Spending". Hannity. Fox News. August 11, 2009.
  18. ^ "CPAC 2011: Schedule of events" (PDF). Conservative Political Action Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 16, 2012.
  19. ^ Crowder, Steven (February 13, 2012). "Stop Lying and Let Racism Die". Huffington Post.
  20. ^ Kaminsky, Ross (October 27, 2012). "Steven Crowder Wrecks Lena Dunham". American Spectator. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012.
  21. ^ Kangadis, Nick (November 1, 2016). "Prager U Video: 'Democratic Socialism is Still Socialism'". Media Research Center. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  22. ^ Wemple, Erik (December 11, 2012). "Fox News contributor attacked at Michigan union protest". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  23. ^ Mackey, Robert. "Selective Editing by Fox News Contributor Revealed by Fox News". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  24. ^ "Fox News contributor releases unedited footage of fight at union rally". Fox News Channel. December 20, 2012.
  25. ^ McMorris-Santoro, Evan (December 11, 2012). "AFL–CIO: 'Of Course We Do Not Condone' Ripping Down Of AFP Tent In Michigan". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  26. ^ Wemple, Erik (March 8, 2013). "Fox News's Steven Crowder fistfight case: No charges". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  27. ^ "The Union Protester Who Punched Fox News Comedian Steven Crowder Was Acting in Self-Defense, Will Not Be Prosecuted".
  28. ^ Bond, Paul. "TheBlaze and CRTV Merge to Create Conservative Media Powerhouse (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  29. ^ "Man defending male privilege just became the intenet's newest photoshop battle". Rare. February 24, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  30. ^ Studios, Mashable. "The 'Change My Mind' meme is revealing a lot about the internet's strongest beliefs". Mashable. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  31. ^ "15 examples of the Change My Mind meme that show the Distracted Boyfriend has been usurped". Independent.ie. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  32. ^ "Conservative comedian changes mind, will make scaled-down appearance at UI". News Gazette. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  33. ^ "Steven Crowder Made a Dumb 'Male Privilege' Sign that Got Parodied". The Daily Dot. February 26, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  34. ^ "The Best Memes of 2018 (So Far)". Complex. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  35. ^ "Vox Host Carlos Maza Is Blasting YouTube For Not Adequately Enforcing Its Hate Speech Policies". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  36. ^ EDT, Steven Asarch On 5/31/19 at 3:49 PM (May 31, 2019). "Carlos Maza, a journalist for Vox, speaks out about the harassment he's received from Steven Crowder and his fans". Newsweek. Retrieved June 1, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ EDT, Rachel Frazin On 6/1/19 at 11:24 AM (June 1, 2019). "YouTube investigating conservative commentator Steven Crowder". TheHill. Retrieved June 3, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ Re, Gregg (June 5, 2019). "YouTube ends monetization of conservative commentator Steven Crowder's channel, several others after left-wing outrage". Fox News. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  39. ^ Alexander, Julia (May 31, 2019). "YouTube investigating right-wing pundit Steven Crowder for harassing Vox.com host". The Verge. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  40. ^ a b http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Ben Shapiro rips Vox claim that Carlos Maza, host trying to deplatform Steven Crowder, is 'silenced'". The Washington Times. Retrieved June 11, 2019. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  41. ^ "Update on our continued review–we have suspended this channel's monetization. We came to this decision because a pattern of egregious actions has harmed the broader community and is against our YouTube Partner Program policies. More here:". Twitter. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  42. ^ Concha, Joe (June 6, 2019). "Ted Cruz throws support behind Steven Crowder: 'YouTube is not the Star Chamber'". The Hill. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  43. ^ a b Richardson, Ian. "Fact check: Is US coronavirus death toll inflated? Experts agree it's likely the opposite". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  44. ^ Warzel, Charlie (2020). "What We Pretend to Know About the Coronavirus Could Kill Us". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 29, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ "Waiting till the wedding night—getting married the right way". Fox News. September 14, 2012.
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