Steven Crowder

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Steven Crowder
Steven Crowder.png
Crowder in 2019
Born
Steven Blake Crowder

(1987-07-07) July 7, 1987 (age 35)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
Occupation
  • Political commentator
  • media host
Years active1999–present
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Hilary Crowder
​
(m. 2012)​
Children2
Crowder's voice
On the media's reporting of the George Zimmerman case
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2016–present
GenrePolitics, Comedy, Opinion
Subscribers5.86 million[1]
Total views1,585,107,263[1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg 100,000 subscribers 2017
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg 1,000,000 subscribers 2021
Last updated: November 6, 2022
Websitelouderwithcrowder.com

Steven Blake Crowder (/ˈkraʊdər/ KROW-dər; born July 7, 1987) is an American-Canadian[2] conservative political commentator and media host.[3]

Early in his career, Crowder worked for Fox News and posted satirical videos on conservative media platforms. He then began hosting Louder with Crowder, a daily political podcast and YouTube channel, which features comedic content and political commentary from a conservative viewpoint. The program is popular among young conservatives and includes a recurring segment called "Change My Mind", in which Crowder discusses controversial topics with bystanders who are often college students.

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.[4] Crowder's YouTube channel has been demonetized twice, first in 2019 after repeated use of racist and homophobic slurs.[3][5][6][7] His channel was re-monetized after YouTube said Crowder addressed his behavior and content,[8] and it was demonetized again in March 2021 after violating YouTube's presidential election integrity policy for advancing false claims about the election's integrity.[9]

On October 27th, 2022, his YouTube channel, which has more than 5.86 million subscribers,[10] was suspended by YouTube. The suspension will be in force through November 9th, 2022.

His last video aired on October 26th 2022, The episode was titled "REACTION: FETTERMAN & DR. OZ DEBATE RECAP"[11]. After the suspension, Crowder criticized YouTube for election interference and censorship regarding his conservative views and criticism of the democratic party, as well as it's candidates, in the two weeks leading up to the Mid-Term Elections. [12]

Early life[edit]

Crowder was born on July 7, 1987, in Detroit, Michigan. His mother was French Canadian, and at the age of three, his family moved to the Montreal suburb of Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada where he would live for the rest of his childhood.[13] Crowder attended Centennial Regional High School, and at the age of 18, he moved back to the United States.[14] Crowder attended two semesters at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.[15]

Career[edit]

Early career and Fox News[edit]

At age 12, he worked as a voice actor for the character Alan "The Brain" Powers on the children's television series Arthur.[16] 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.[15]

Crowder with a fan at CPAC, 2010

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 (CPAC),[18] and generated some controversy with a rap video he premiered at CPAC 2012.[19]

December 2012 union protest[edit]

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.[4] 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."[20] Crowder later released an unedited copy of the video.[21]

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.[22]

Crowder speaking at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland

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 because the union member had acted in self-defense.[23][15]

Louder with Crowder[edit]

Crowder hosting Louder with Crowder, 2019.

In October 2013, Fox News ended its relationship with Crowder. This was announced shortly after Crowder made negative statements about Fox News host Sean Hannity and about Fox News.[15] In 2017, the Louder with Crowder program, featuring mainly comedic content and political commentary, became a daily program featured on Conservative Review's new streaming service, CRTV. On December 3, 2018, CRTV merged with Glenn Beck's TheBlaze, where Crowder continues to be hosted,[24] alongside his YouTube channel, which has existed since 2009.[15][25][26]

"Change My Mind" is a regular segment conducted by Crowder in which he sits at a table with a sign including the phrase "Change My Mind" and invites people walking by, often students at a university campus, to change his mind on a controversial subject. A photograph of Crowder seated behind a sign in February 2018 reading "Male Privilege is a Myth | Change My Mind" outside the Texas Christian University campus became an Internet meme.[27][28][29] Variations of the meme often feature humorously controversial statements in place of "Male Privilege is a Myth", such as "Pineapple goes on pizza | Change My Mind".[30][31]

Francesca Tripodi, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that Crowder is "very popular, especially among young, conservative voters".[26] Stanford extremism researcher Becca Lewis told Bloomberg News that while Crowder does not directly express white nationalist views, his channel "has some of the most overt racism of any of the shows I've looked at".[26] Crowder's channel faced similar criticism after he described CBS reporter Betty Yu's face as "aggressively Asian", with CBS and KPIX 5 condemning what they described as the "horrific, racist comments" and "demeaning Asian stereotypes" on his show.[32][33][34]

"America Is Superior [To Every Other Country], Change My Mind".

Crowder's show has also seen success on Apple's podcast list, having remained on the top 100 list over the course of 2020.[35] This success is mirrored on YouTube where the Louder with Crowder podcast has 5.57 million subscribers and his secondary channel CrowderBits has approximately 1.09 million subscribers.[36]

Violations of online policies[edit]

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". Crowder mocked Maza using a stereotypical gay voice, sometimes while wearing a t-shirt with Che Guevara on it that said "Socialism is for f*gs [sic]".[3] In addition, Maza said that Crowder's fans have doxxed and harassed him.[37] 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".[3] According to an analysis by Vox Media's The Verge, Crowder's videos "routinely contain egregious violations of YouTube's policies against cyberbullying".[38] 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 "an example of a giant, multinational media conglomeration ... attempting to squash a competitor". He also stated that he is opposed to doxxing and harassment.[39][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.[41] The decision to not suspend the channel drew considerable criticism.[3] The next day, YouTube suspended the channel's monetization, because "a pattern of egregious actions harmed the broader community".[42] Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who had previously appeared on Crowder's show, criticized YouTube's demonetization of Crowder's account, and Crowder stated on his Twitter account that, "Vox is still going to be pissed" because he was not removed from the platform.[43][44] In August 2020, YouTube re-monetized some of Crowder's content on the site, stating that Crowder had satisfactorily addressed the issues with his behavior and content.[45]

Crowder announced in February 2021 that he filed a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging he was unfairly censored by the platform.[46] The next month, YouTube suspended Crowder's channel for one week for violating its presidential election integrity policy by advancing false claims about the 2020 United States presidential election in Nevada and again indefinitely demonetized his account.[47] His account was then given a second strike on the platform for "reveling in or mocking" the killing of Ma'Khia Bryant in a video he posted, and Crowder responded by announcing that he had filed a lawsuit against YouTube seeking an injunction.[48]

Personal life[edit]

Crowder is a self-described Christian.[49] He married his wife Hilary in August 2012 and wrote about the benefits of remaining abstinent before his marriage.[49]

In July 2021, Crowder underwent a surgical operation in which titanium bars were inserted into his chest in order to counteract his congenital condition of pectus excavatum (sunken chest).[36][50] The surgery caused fluid to accumulate in his lungs, which he called "excruciatingly painful". Several weeks later, he was rushed to the hospital due to a collapsed lung.[51] In August 2021, as Crowder was still recovering from both treatments, his wife gave birth to twins—a son, Magnus, and a daughter, Charlotte.[52]

Filmography[edit]

Year Film Role Notes
1999 The Bone Collector Extra
2000–2001 Arthur Alan 'The Brain' Powers Voice
2000 Arthur's Perfect Christmas
2001 Two Summers Friend
2002 Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat Mung Voice
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
Greek Jace
2009 To Save a Life Doug Moore

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "About StevenCrowder". YouTube.
  2. ^ Steven Crowder [@scrowder] (February 20, 2014). "Allow me to clarify. I have dual-citizenship with the USA and Canada" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 19, 2018 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c d e Rosenburg, Eli (June 4, 2019). "A right-wing YouTuber hurled racist, homophobic taunts at a gay reporter. The company did nothing". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Wemple, Erik (December 11, 2012). "Fox News contributor attacked at Michigan union protest". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  5. ^ "YouTube Says Homophobic Harassment Doesn't Violate Its Policies". Time. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  6. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (June 10, 2019). "YouTube CEO Apologizes Over Handling of Homophobic Content". Variety. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Nett, Danny (June 8, 2019). "Is YouTube Doing Enough To Stop Harassment Of LGBTQ Content Creators?". NPR. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Ghosh, Shona (August 13, 2020). "YouTube restores Steven Crowder's ability to make cash from videos, a year after the conservative star was accused of homophobic harassment". Business Insider. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  9. ^ Hollister, Sean (March 30, 2021). "YouTube has removed Steven Crowder from its Partner Program indefinitely". The Verge.
  10. ^ "StevenCrowder - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  11. ^ REACTION: FETTERMAN & DR. OZ DEBATE RECAP, retrieved November 7, 2022
  12. ^ Sievers, Caitlin; November 1, Arizona Mirror; 2022. "Kari Lake wants an AZ law banning Big Tech 'censorship' of conservatives • Arizona Mirror". Arizona Mirror. Retrieved November 7, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Shapiro, Ben (September 16, 2018). "Steven Crowder: The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 19". The Ben Shapiro Show. Archived from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "THE 'LOUDERWITHCROWDER' TEAM REMEMBERS: WHERE WE WERE ON 9/11". louderwithcrowder.com. September 11, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e Dickson, Caitlin (November 3, 2013). "The Unmaking of a Conservative Pundit". The Daily Beast.
  16. ^ "Behind the Voice Steven Crowder". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  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". HuffPost.
  20. ^ Mackey, Robert. "Selective Editing by Fox News Contributor Revealed by Fox News". The New York Times. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "Fox News contributor releases unedited footage of fight at union rally". Fox News. December 20, 2012.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ Wemple, Erik (March 8, 2013). "Fox News's Steven Crowder fistfight case: No charges". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  24. ^ Bond, Paul (December 2, 2018). "TheBlaze and CRTV Merge to Create Conservative Media Powerhouse (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  25. ^ "Popular comic to help raise funds for county GOP women". The Courier. February 20, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  26. ^ a b c Bergan, Mark (October 12, 2020). "A Conservative YouTuber Thrives By Pushing Conflict With Site". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  27. ^ "Man defending male privilege just became the intenet's newest photoshop battle". Rare. February 24, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  28. ^ "15 examples of the Change My Mind meme that show the Distracted Boyfriend has been usurped". Irish Independent. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  29. ^ "Conservative comedian changes mind, will make scaled-down appearance at UI". News Gazette. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  30. ^ Hathaway, Jay (February 26, 2018). "Steven Crowder Made a Dumb 'Male Privilege' Sign that Got Parodied". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  31. ^ Studios, Mashable. "The 'Change My Mind' meme is revealing a lot about the internet's strongest beliefs". Mashable. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  32. ^ Rai, Sarakshi (October 21, 2021). "CBS official rips 'horrific, racist comments' by conservative commentator Steven Crowder". The Hill. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  33. ^ "Outrage grows after conservative host's remarks on reporter's Asian features". NBC News. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  34. ^ "Conservative commentator's racist remarks about Asian American reporter draw backlash". Los Angeles Times. October 22, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  35. ^ Meserole, Valerie Wirtschafter and Chris (January 4, 2022). "Prominent political podcasters played key role in spreading the 'Big Lie'". Brookings. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  36. ^ a b Haasch, Palmer. "Conservative YouTuber Steven Crowder said that he could 'physically feel death' several days after a 'mild lung collapse'". Insider. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  37. ^ "Vox Host Carlos Maza Is Blasting YouTube For Not Adequately Enforcing Its Hate Speech Policies". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  38. ^ Alexander, Julia (May 31, 2019). "YouTube investigating right-wing pundit Steven Crowder for harassing Vox.com host". The Verge. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  39. ^ Asarch, Steven (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.
  40. ^ Frazin, Rachel (June 1, 2019). "YouTube investigating conservative commentator Steven Crowder". The Hill. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  41. ^ Gajanan, Mahita (June 5, 2019). "YouTube Says Homophobic Harassment Targeting a Popular Host Doesn't Violate Its Policies". Time. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  42. ^ @TeamYouTube (June 5, 2019). "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" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 5, 2019 – via Twitter.
  43. ^ Concha, Joe (June 6, 2019). "Ted Cruz throws support behind Steven Crowder: 'YouTube is not the Star Chamber'". The Hill. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  44. ^ 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.
  45. ^ Ghosh, Shona (August 13, 2020). "YouTube restores Steven Crowder's ability to make cash from videos, a year after the conservative star was accused of homophobic harassment". Business Insider.
  46. ^ "A new report says social media doesn't censor conservatives. Comedian Steven Crowder would like a word". deseret.com. February 2, 2021.
  47. ^ Hollister, Sean (March 30, 2021). "YouTube has removed Steven Crowder from its Partner Program indefinitely". The Verge. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  48. ^ "Steven Crowder Sues YouTube for Silencing Conservatives: 'This Is the Big One'". cbn.com. May 18, 2021.
  49. ^ a b "Waiting till the wedding night—getting married the right way". Fox News. September 14, 2012.
  50. ^ Crowder, Steven (July 29, 2021). "Part 1 | I'm Getting Heart Surgery..." Archived from the original on November 2, 2021 – via YouTube.
  51. ^ Smith, Ryan (July 28, 2021). "Steven Crowder Shares Selfie From Hospital Bed, Says He Could 'Physically Feel Death'". Newsweek.
  52. ^ @scrowder (August 15, 2021). "Okay… so you guys get ONE post..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steven Crowder.
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