Ben Shapiro, founder of The Daily Wire, has spoken out in defense of his media company’s commitment to free speech following the departure of host Candace Owens. Owens was let go after publicly feuding with Shapiro and accusations of anti-Semitism.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Shapiro argued that The Daily Wire is a “publisher” not a “platform” and has a variety of positions on Israel within the company. He stated that his split with Owens was not solely about Israel policy.

“What I will say is we have a variety of positions on Israel right now inside the Daily Wire. Matt Walsh is obviously one of the number one hosts at the Daily Wire, and he and I wildly disagree on what America’s Israel policy should be. Matt is much more of an isolationist,” Shapiro said. “He basically believes the United States has no real interest in the Middle East and thus should not be providing material supporting to anyone, including the state of Israel. Matt obviously is well within the sort of group of hosts that we have here at the Daily Wire. So clearly whatever is going on is not about Israel specifically. That’s really all I have to say about it.”

Shapiro emphasized his belief in free speech, saying he would never call for anyone to be removed from social media platforms like X or YouTube. “I’ve never called for anyone to be ousted from an actual platform… I’ve called for their accounts to be restored if they’ve been banned,” he said.

Megyn Kelly praised The Daily Wire but also applauded the separation, predicting it would be a good move for both parties. “I think Candace will do fine on her own. It wasn’t a good match, and I, for one, applaud the separation for a number of reasons,” she said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)