“Hi folks, we owe you an apology before sessions kick off for the day. Yesterday afternoon, Ben Shapiro briefly visited the PM22 expo area near The Daily Wire booth. Though he was not registered or expected, we take full responsibility for the harm done by his presence,” Podcast Movement tweeted on Thursday.
Shapiro is a controversial figure on the right, and frequently makes headlines for his positions on transgender issues, censorship and criticism of those on the left. In June, he spoke out against singer Oliva Rodrigo over her comments criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. In April, he slammed Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, for giving Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson a standing ovation after she was confirmed to the Supreme Court.
The Apology
“There’s no way around it: We agreed to sell The Daily Wire a first-time booth based on the company’s large presence in podcasting. The weight of that decision is now painfully clear. Shapiro is a co-founder. A drop-in, however unlikely, should have been considered a possibility,” it added.
The Ben Shapiro Show, a podcast produced by the conservative media company The Daily Wire, is currently the 39th most popular show on Apple Podcasts.
“Those of you who called this ‘unacceptable’ are right. In 9 wonderful years growing and celebrating this medium, [Podcast Movement] has made mistakes. The pain caused by this one will always stick with us. We promise that sponsors will be more carefully considered moving forward,” it added.
The Criticism
Several users criticized Podcast Movement for issuing the apology.
“This tweet is frustrating. I LOVE PM,” podcaster Seth Silvers tweeted, referring to Podcast Movement. “I have always appreciated how inclusive PM has been. However, apologizing for hosting one of the largest networks in the industry because they believe differently than some in the PM community is the least inclusive move I’ve seen PM do,” he added.
“A sad, strange post,” podcast consultant Richard Davies tweeted. “Do I agree with Shapiro? No way. Can we learn from people we passionately disagree with? Yes… Shapiro is editor-in-chief of right-wing Daily Wire. No surprise he’d visit,” he added.
“As a guest of pm 2022 I find this tweet Disgusting,” Twitter user Evan Hermann wrote. “What they’ve done for the space of podcasting is important. Podcast Movement has preached nothing but inclusivity and openness to ideas and respect. You need to give daily wire their money back after this. Very hypocritical,” he added.
In its tweet thread, Podcast Movement also clarified that no representatives from The Daily Wire had been “scheduled to appear on panels, and Shapiro remained in the common space and did not have a badge.”
Shapiro himself responded to the apology on Thursday afternoon: “Literally shaking rn. Podcast Movement is threatening my right to exist. This is erasure,” Shapiro tweeted.
While Podcast Movement faced was blasted by some on Thursday, others thanked the organization for its apology.
“Thanks, yall. I really appreciate your transparency and apology, and feel much more comfortable attending!” podcast producer Tal Minear tweeted.
“Kudos to PM for owning up to this mistake, and for recognizing the toxicity of this group’s message of bigotry and hatred,” another podcaster, Scott Johnson wrote on Twitter.
Newsweek has reached out to Podcast Movement for comment.
