CNN Hires Rex Chapman for New Streaming Service. Conservative Twitter Has a Field Day.

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CNN announced on Tuesday that social media influencer and former NBA player Rex Chapman will be part of the network’s streaming service, CNN+ that will launch later this year.

“Chapman is known for celebrating the highs of college basketball and NBA stardom, rebounding from the lows of opioid addiction and now for his viral social media presence where he shares humor and positivity,” said CNN in a statement. “In that same spirit, Chapman’s weekly CNN+ show will include intimate conversations with athletes, entertainers and everyday heroes as Chapman looks for the silver lining beyond today’s toughest headlines. It will contribute to CNN+’s slate of original, live programming and be available at launch.”

Chapman has come under fire from the Right for allegedly spreading left-wing disinformation and allegedly taking and reposting content and not giving credit to the original source.

Fox News, chronicled several previous examples of Chapman having drawn conservative ire. They include; “[shaming] people who attended a college football game during the COVID pandemic weeks after posting photos of himself, maskless, at an indoor NBA game; spread[ing] a debunked conspiracy that Republicans were locking mailboxes to prevent voting; [sharing] a video with dubbed music to falsely claim the military band played ‘Hit The Road Jack’ outside the White House on former President [Donald] Trump’s last day in office; and [claiming] ‘Breonna Taylor’s killers were at the wrong house.’”

Conservatives on Twitter had a field day following the announcement:

Welp. https://t.co/HT7hFi80QQ

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) January 18, 2022

Pretty funny how even Chapman’s new employer seems to understand none of his stuff is original. https://t.co/OpC4JaomIx

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) January 18, 2022

Let this be a lesson to you, kids. Steal other people’s stuff, present it as your own, bask in the love of blue-check liberals and you too can get a job at CNN. https://t.co/ZkdaVqaolM

— Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) January 18, 2022

To do what, exactly? Repost other people’s videos without credit? https://t.co/h30OQ9Pxy9

— Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) January 18, 2022

Sure, he’s getting overpaid, but think of him like you’re getting the value of four entry-level digital staff you’d otherwise have to pay to steal memes and trending content and divert traffic to your site. https://t.co/pBb2tIso6j

— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) January 18, 2022

Oh FFS https://t.co/mML93pBKAr

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 18, 2022

I can’t think of a more perfect fit for CNN than Rex Chapman pic.twitter.com/2OuaI6BsyO

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 18, 2022

CNN adding Rex Chapman to CNN+. So they’re going for MSNBC, but even more stupid. Okay then. Suddenly Joy Reid won’t be the stupidest person on television.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 18, 2022

It’s amazing how @cnn continues to make decisions guaranteed to destroy whatever limited trust they have in the media today. Well done! pic.twitter.com/DmmvbXrS6z

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 18, 2022

Lol this is a perfect fit. He’s an endless source of misinformation on this website https://t.co/cOO3QmXFfI

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 18, 2022