Far-Right Rebel News Founder Claims Bank Denied Him Mortgage Over Politics: ‘We Were Cancelled’

Kipp JonesDec 29th, 2021, 5:12 pm
 

Ezra Levant

Ezra Levant of the far-right conservative media outlet Rebel News claimed on Wednesday that the Royal Bank of Canada denied him a commercial mortgage over his website’s political leanings.

Levant, who co-founded the outlet in 2015, shared a video on his Twitter page in which he claimed that Rebel News checked all the financial boxes for a mortgage, but was ultimately denied. Levant blamed “cancel culture.”

“Cancel culture has come to @RBC, Canada’s largest bank. Rebel News applied for a commercial mortgage to buy an office,” he tweeted. “I have the banker on tape saying he approved the financing but head office vetoed it because of our political opinions.”

Levant’s video contained a sound clip he claimed came from a conversation he had with a bank employee in Calgary, Alberta, who explained to him that the institution wanted to avoid dealing with “out there” media outlets.

“Yeah, it’s just about the nature of the business altogether,” a man Levant identified as the banker said on the clip. “‘Cause the bank has been, I’ll be blunt with you, the bank has been, you know, trying to pry away from certain, you know, clients where they’re kind of out there in the media and very strong, opinionated, you know, which is your business in a way. So we’re just clearing some internal hurdles to make sure that the bank is OK to kind of onboard you as a client, internally.”

Levant claimed Rebel News did not clear those hurdles.

Writing for Rebel News, Levant said:

The Calgary bankers were so impressed that they hopped on a Zoom call with me, and even joked that our application was so strong, they wanted to give Rebel News mortgages for two buildings, not just one!

And right after that call, they sent me an email confirming it. Not only did they agree to a mortgage, but they wanted to offer us a huge line of credit too. I didn’t ask for a line of credit, but that’s how good they felt about Rebel News as a customer.

But then the Royal Bank loans officer who reviewed my application told me my mortgage was only cancelled because Rebel News has the wrong opinions. I recorded that phone call, because it’s too incredible to believe without proof.

Levant concluded his mortgage application was denied because he is a political enemy of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He also asked his readers to donate money to him so that Rebel News can open an office in Calgary.

Mediaite reached out to the Royal Bank of Canada for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.

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