Ultra-conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro has built an entire brand off of being controversial, but some big names are less than impressed with his stature in the right-wing political sphere. “Regardless of whatever you think of Ben Shapiro’s ideological leanings, it’s hard to deny that he’s doing what he’s doing well,” Deen Freelon, a communications professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, told NPR in 2021 about the success of Shapiro’s media company, The Daily Wire. (According to Celebrity Net Worth, Shapiro has amassed a staggering net worth of $50 million so uh, yeah, not too shabby.)
Still, Shapiro has made many enemies along the way. “People treat you very differently when you are less successful and more successful,” Shapiro declared during an appearance on Lewis Howes’ show “The School of Greatness.” Alas, as it turns out, many of Shapiro’s enemies are pretty successful celebrities in their own right.
Ben Shapiro terminated his on-air interview with Andrew Neil
Where were you when Ben Shapiro stormed off of his live BBC interview?! All you-know-what broke loose on May 10, 2019, when Shapiro had a war of words with longtime BBC journalist Andrew Neil. Right out of the gate, Shapiro took offense to Neil’s line of questioning as it pertained to the state of Georgia’s fetal heartbeat bill — namely, Neil’s referring to it as a return “to the dark ages.” Shapiro then accused Neil of being “on the left,” to which Neil shot back, “Mr. Shapiro, if you only knew how ridiculous that statement is, you wouldn’t have said it.”
Things went from bad to worse when Neil began referencing some of Shapiro’s past statements, including one wherein he said, “Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage.” At that point, Shapiro deemed the interview “a waste of time” and abruptly terminated it, but not before leaving with the dramatic parting line, “I’m popular, and no one has ever heard of you.”
Later, Shapiro followed up his disastrous BBC appearance with a tweet wherein he backtracked his on-air statements regarding Neil. “As I’m not familiar with him or his work, I misinterpreted his antagonism as political Leftism (he termed the pro-life position in America ‘barbaric’) – and that was apparently inaccurate. For that, I apologize,” he penned. It’s likely that these two will not be hashing their differences out over a cup of coffee anytime soon.
Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens fell out professionally over their differing views
Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens go way back. In 2021, she launched her show “Candace” on Shapiro’s media company, The Daily Wire. “The reviews for Candace are in! If you missed the first episode, head on over to The Daily Wire now to see why people can’t stop talking about Candace Owens’ new show,” Shapiro gushed on Facebook following the debut of her first episode.
Sadly, Shapiro and Owens’ business arrangement turned out to be short-lived. In March 2024, Owens took to X to announce she was cutting ties with The Daily Wire and going out on her own. “The rumors are true — I am finally free,” she tweeted before redirecting her followers to her website. Still, The Daily Wire beat her to the punch, with the media company’s CEO, Jeremy Boreing, tweeting, “Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship,” merely 41 minutes before her own statement.
Unfortunately, it appears that the parting of ways was a long time coming. In November 2023, Shapiro and Owens sparred on Twitter regarding comments Owens had made about the Israel-Hamas war, some of which included antisemitic rhetoric. In the end, Shapiro floated the idea that Owens should quit The Daily Wire, and Owens referred to him as “emotionally unhinged.” Later, when pressed about the falling out during an appearance on “The George Janko Show,” Shapiro said, “It’s not our job as a company to pay everybody, no matter how widely variant their views.” Duly noted.
Cardi B had the last laugh when it came to Ben Shapiro’s critique of ‘WAP’
It’s safe to say that Ben Shapiro and Cardi B got off on the wrong foot in 2020 when he took to his show on The Daily Wire to share what he believed was the real meaning of her raunchy song “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion. “My first concern is that these women are describing a serious gynecological condition,” he declared before revealing what his wife, Mor Shapiro, really does for a living. Shapiro said that according to Mor, a board-certified physician specializing in family medicine, the differential diagnosis of what Cardi B describes in the lyrics would be bacterial vaginosis, a yeast infection, or perhaps trichomoniasis.
As one can imagine, fans of the song were not thrilled with Shapiro’s critique. Eventually, an inspired internet user created their own remix featuring less-than-flattering snippets of Shapiro discussing the song. While Cardi B did not directly comment on the 2.0 version x Shapiro, she did share it to her large-and-in-charge Twitter following, complete with one weary face emoji and three crying laughing emojis. As the old saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.
Ben Shapiro accused Mark Hamill of wanting to ‘indoctrinate small children’
It’s no secret that Mark Hamill is among the celebs who seemingly can’t stand Lauren Boebert, but in 2022, we learned that the actor famously known for his role as Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars” wasn’t too keen on right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro, either. Following the State of Florida’s passing of House Bill 1557, also widely known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Hamill signaled his outrage for the bill by tweeting the word gay 69 times along with one rainbow emoji.
As one can imagine, the very vocal Shapiro responded to Hamill’s tweet, writing, “So I take it you wish to indoctrinate small children into gender and sexual ideology. Because that’s the only reason you’re parroting idiotic propaganda.” Hamill, however, wasn’t going to allow Shapiro to have the last word. He quipped that he loved “mind-reading” acts and then proceeded to ask Shapiro to “guess” which finger he was holding up. YIKES.
The internet ended up having a field day with Hamill’s response, with most believing that Hamill won the Twitter beef. “It’s hysterical that freaking Ben Shapiro thinks he can take on Mark Hamill on Twitter. Dude, you brought a paper sword to a lightsaber fight,” one user tweeted. Meanwhile, another wrote, “Dang did poor Ben get scared and delete his tweet? man imagine thinking he could get a W against the voice of the Joker!”
Ben Shapiro and Eric Swalwell’s Capitol Hill showdown
On July 10, 2024, Ben Shapiro testified on Capitol Hill about his experience with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media and why he felt the alliance was attempting to suppress conservative outlets, including his own, The Daily Wire. The hearing appeared to be business as usual until Representative Eric Swalwell started questioning Shapiro about his support of Project 2025, a 922-page document that aims to “take down the Deep State and return the government to the people,” per its official website.
Things got particularly heated when Swalwell directly asked Shapiro if he thought it was a sin to be gay. Shapiro essentially tap-danced around the question before Swalwell displayed a transcript from an interview Shapiro did with Slate in 2018 wherein Shapiro did indeed say that he believed homosexuality was a sin. “Yes, I’m a religious Jew. You found me out,” Shapiro remarked as Swalwell began reading the quote. “I agree with me. Yes, that’s true.” Swalwell quipped back, “Congratulations on your… yeah. I’m sure it’s very hard to restrain yourself.” And scene!
