MAGA Podcaster Argues Trying to Make Ben Shapiro ‘Funny’ Led to Daily Wire’s Layoffs

Pro-Trump podcaster Patrick Bet-David said The Daily Wire’s attempt to rebrand Ben Shapiro as a “funny” guy contributed to the conservative outlet laying off a number of employees last week.

Bet-David shared his take on what went wrong on his PBD Podcast on Monday.

“The rebranding of Ben has been ‘let’s try to see if he’s funny, and let’s make him be funny and do all this stuff.’ I don’t think it’s working.”

Beyond giving his usual political takes, Shapiro has commented on pop culture more in recent years, including reviewing Taylor Swift’s latest album.

He said the site has made some other flubs too, like “attacking” former employee Candace Owens, as well as going from “Fox News’s enemy” to having a cozier relationship with the cable news giant.

Another issue has been The Daily Wire having talent like Owens, Brett Cooper, and former CEO Jeremy Boreing leave the Nashville-based company in recent years.

“You’re better off building on systems instead of personalities, because if you only build on personalities, they’re gonna go,” Bet-David said.

He added The Daily Wire isn’t the only outlet going through a difficult stretch.

Bet-David said it is a “very weird time to be in the media business,” and went on a tangent about how CBS News has been criticized under new boss Bari Weiss; his argument had something to do with Weiss, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, and 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl all being Jewish, which he suggested opens the outlet up to criticism, or something along those lines.

As for The Daily Wire, Bet-David said the company would be wise to have Shapiro go on the road more and debate students at colleges — something that was a hit in the past. He said that could help boost views, after Shapiro’s viewership has reportedly dropped 85% from 2023 to around 28 million YouTube views last month.

Bet-David said Shapiro might not be up to it, though, because he would need to beef up his security to stay safe.

Watch above via YouTube.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!