For those not aware of the internet’s plethora of opinionated right-wing podcasters, Candace Owens is one of these social media celebrities. Episodes of her podcast titled “Candace” are published frequently on her YouTube channel. She heralds the ranks of an entertainment niche alongside the likes of Ben Shapiro and Logan Paul, influencers who often present themselves as outspoken “rebels” against notions of an alleged “liberal-controlled” media, unapologetic in their views despite the repercussions of “cancel culture.”
Owens’ podcast has been gaining much traction recently, due to several episodes centering around the buzzing legal scandal between It Ends With Us costars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Episode 139 of the podcast, “Selena Gomez Cries & More Ryan Reynolds’ Lies,” firmly accuses Lively’s famous husband—Ryan Reynolds—of “proving to be the real villain in the [aforementioned] drama.” Though controversial to many on social media in recent history, Owens’ content appears to be taking a turn for the favorable. YouTube commenter @zoe_claire_m puts it succinctly: “Candace Owens literally uniting the right and left with her brilliant dissection of the Blake Lively/Ryan Reynolds/Justin Baldoni saga. This is one of the best lives I have ever seen. This whole thing could literally be a movie in and of itself.”
The surprising truth is that Owens might indeed have a talent for saying exactly what we’re all thinking. One of the more memorable moments of her internet career comes from a different podcast episode, which has been reposted all over social media as a “reaction video,” in which she most commonly calls out celebrities and powerful politicians as acting (derogatorily) “fake and gay.” In the reaction video specifically, Owens said “…it’s really fake and gay, and I am actually an expert on all matters that are fake and gay.” The viral reaction is something Owens seems to be aware of, with her reiteration of the phrase as a sort of motif for her online persona: a lone bastion of truth and justice in an otherwise brainwashed media landscape. Those who believe in what she has to say are the ones who, like her, don’t fall victim to internet propaganda posited by those of high status. As biased as that sentiment is to her personal politics, Owens does acknowledge something powerful in her statements.Â
Episode 92 of the podcast served as a warning to her listeners against the then-Democratic nominees for president and vice president, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. It is not the episode as a whole that rings with truth, at least by my standards, but the sentiment she shares at the very end of it. Owens said, “…I believe that it’s going to take independent warriors for truth in order for everyone in the world to be awakened to what sorts of evil we are fighting, which I believe is just a small group of elite people who have amassed a lot of control through the media and through these sort of psychiatric programs of brainwash.”
Without yet diving too deeply into the words she uses, Owens makes about as much sense as she does when calling out the iffy circumstances of the Lively/Baldoni scandal—that is, quite a lot. Any American who does not belong to the selective upper crust of society can see plainly that our world and media are controlled by the ultra-rich and ultra-famous. As the wealth gap deepens, and the injustices of our economy bring us nothing but high prices and inhumane rent/medical bills, more and more of us are becoming fed up with how much control the elite (who feel none of these effects) have over ordinary lives. My own politics aside, I was ready to hand it to Candace Owens. After all, a broken clock is going to be right twice a day. A deeper look into the core of her online messaging, however, proves that her most recent appreciators have much to be wary about.
Who does Owens refer to when she talks about the “elite”? One might argue, as I certainly do, that Owens’ call out of the “powers that be” is a mere deflection from some hard truths. If Owens truly believed this sentiment, I wonder why she still backs the conservative party and agenda. This previous election brought us our shiny new council of oligarchs, featuring three of the world’s wealthiest: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, alongside President Donald Trump Trump himself. Not to mention that the former two now own a rather monopolistic control over nearly all popular social media sites, operating under the guise of uplifting “truth” and “free speech.” Ringing any bells?
Owens has yet to poke criticism at the regime she champions in nearly all her podcast episodes and social media posts, which is no coincidence. It is convenient for her now—after her political party has succeeded—to harp much more on gossipy celebrity drama. Broadcasting the “evil” of the world as belonging to some (forgive me) B-list celebrities is quite an excellent red herring, I must say. Everyone is glued to the Lively/Baldoni scandal, perhaps so much so that they put more of their attention into petulant smear campaigns rather than the real looming threat to American democracy.
While she may have some apt insight on recent celebrity drama, I would warn any tuning in against putting a full stake in nearly all of her other “investigations” or “claims.” Before Owens started full swing on her independent podcast, she was featured in online content from the infamous right-wing “educational” website PragerU.
Published Aug. 23, 2021, “A Short History of Slavery” delves into what PragerU considers common “misconceptions” around slavery. I’ll do no complete dissection, but I will provide a single quote that should illuminate the problem with the framing of the video’s narrative. Owens said, “…when the intrepid explorer [Christopher Columbus] landed in the Bahamas, the native Taino tribe hoped that he would help them…”
From Owens’ chipper tone to the complete dismissal of the 55 million people, who according to Business Insider, died due to Columbus’ “little adventure,” the painting of such genocide as a truth to combat “Black victimhood” is a sickening lens from which to remark upon the real effects of systemic racism today. On her YouTube channel, she offers a social platform to Andrew Tate, showcases her work on the “Blexit” movement, and has many videos about her belief that the Democratic party is the source of pseudo-slavery for present-day Black Americans. Need I say more? Before using Owens as a source of wisdom, I would urge anyone who comes upon her to think more critically about the places that her knowledge comes from—and what agenda she may be trying to promote under the guise that she has none but “truth.”