The Shady Side Of Candace Owens

A long time ago, Candace Owens was only well-known among her colleagues at Vogue where she interned after dropping out of college. These days, however, Owens is widely known across America and beyond — but mostly for the many controversies that have trailed her. Since coming into the spotlight, Owens has gained nationwide popularity for her polarizing political beliefs and social activism.

Of her many scandalous beliefs, Owens, an African-American, has constantly criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, describing it as the Black American's attempt at garnering sympathy. "Black Lives Matter protesters showed up to my @UCLA event to protest. ... they're a bunch of whiny toddlers, pretending to be oppressed for attention," she wrote in a tweet shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, back in 2018. 

Amid the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Owens accused authorities of overcounting COVID-related deaths. This is a direct contradiction to a report released by the World Health Organization, revealing that COVID-19-related deaths were undercounted. "State departments of Public Health are reporting the number of deaths BEFORE the medical examiners have even concluded the cause of death. It takes Medical examiners weeks to determine. There would be no legitimate way to report how many people die 'daily,'" she tweeted back in April 2020. But beyond COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests, Owens has done some more even shadier things.

In July 2018, Mollie Tibbetts, a student at the University of Iowa, was reported missing after failing to return home from an evening jogging session in Brooklyn, Iowa. Following an investigation, authorities identified Mexican immigrant Cristhian Bahena Rivera as the prime suspect in the disappearance, and later, in her murder after Tibbetts' body was found the following month. Not long after, Candace Owens made headlines for her controversial comments on the gruesome murder.

Taking to social media, Owens touched on Tibbetts' murder, allocating blame to the Democrats for their pro-immigration policies. "Leftists boycotted, screamed, and cried when illegal immigrants were temporarily separated from their parents. What will they do for Mollie Tibbetts? What did they do for Kate Steinle? They will NEVER see their parents again," she wrote on X.

Owens' comment was not well-received, with many social media users dubbing her racist and insensitive. Particularly, Sam Lucas, a distant relative of Tibbetts criticized Owens' tweet while urging her to stop commenting on the murder. "Hey I'm a member of Mollie's family and we are not so f**king small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad individuals. now stop being a f**king snake and using my cousin's death as political propaganda. Take her name out of your mouth," Lucas wrote in a tweet responding to Owens.

While Candace Owens is most popular for her polarizing political beliefs, the media personality also has no problem commenting on American pop culture. In April 2023, Owens stirred up a controversy after suggesting that pop singer Jojo Siwa had faked being a lesbian to garner attention. "I don't believe JoJo Siwa is a lesbian, by the way. I want to state that very clearly. I do believe that she's desperate for attention," Owens said during an episode of the "Candace Owens Podcast."

Owens then went on to comment on Siwa's October 2022 TikTok video where she opened up about realizing she was gay after getting grossed out by the idea of sex with a man. "Men are not my thing. Women are my gig," the singer added. Speaking on it, Owens reiterated her belief that Siwa was pretending to be a lesbian to get support from people. "One plus one plus one must equal 'I'm a lesbo.' It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It's very clear to me she did that video for attention. She got attention because it's a great way to find a community of victims," Owens said.

Responding to Owens' comment, Siwa took to X asking the media personality to back off. "I haven't watched the video yet.... But if it has anything to do with your caption, respectfully back the f*** off," she wrote.

Among other controversial opinions, Candace Owens has been publicly critical of modern-day feminism, often arguing that women are being brainwashed to follow the movement. "At best, the movement denotes a selective musketeer mentality; it's a pledge that a bad experience had by one ought to be broadcast and accepted as the reality for all, but a good experience had by one?" Owens wrote in a 2017 essay for Stamford Advocate.

Owens has also criticized the #MeToo Movement, noting that it encouraged women to be weak. "The entire premise of #metoo is that women are stupid, weak & inconsequential. Too stupid to know what men might want if you come to their hotel room late at night. Too weak to turn around and tell someone not to touch your ass again. Too inconsequential to realize this," she tweeted in 2018. 

Additionally, Owens is a pro-life activist, constantly speaking out against abortion, which she argues to be a strategy to kill Black babies. "Fun fact: 60 percent of the abortions in Alabama are performed on black women. Remember my words — there is nothing progressive about white-girl feminism," she wrote in a tweet shared back in 2019. 

Since coming into the spotlight, Candace Owens has become close pals with several famous people — including Kanye West. In April 2018, West shared a tweet acknowledging he was a fan of the media personality. "I love the way Candace Owens thinks," the "Flashing Lights" rapper declared (via Fader). The pair quickly became friends after that, but it was not until October 2018 that their friendship first made headlines. Following the launch of her BLEXIT foundation — an organization formed to encourage African Americans and Latinos to join the Republican Party — Owens credited West as the designer of the movement's merchandise. However, West soon took to social media to refute Owens' claims. "I introduced Candace to the person who made the logo and they didn't want their name on it so she used mine. I never wanted any association with Blexit. I have nothing to do with it," he wrote in the since-delete tweet (via Vox). "My eyes are now wide open and now realize I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative."

After a brief feud, Owens and West reconciled and continued their friendship. In October 2022 however, Owens and West made headlines again after the two donned "White Lives Matter" T-shirts at the rapper's fashion show in Paris. "Literally, all lives matter, and in fact, no lives have been mattering ... There is actually in this country a hatred toward white people. It is undeniable," Owens later explained during an appearance on Tucker Carlson's Fox Show.

During a 2020 interview with Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens accused Joe Biden of pandering to Cardi B after the president agreed to an interview with the rapper. "If Black Americans aren't insulted by the fact that Joe Biden, who has been hiding in his basement for the entire year, made an appearance and came out because he was going to do an interview with Cardi B, do we have nothing better to offer?" Owens probed. Speaking further, Owens suggested Cardi B didn't know how to read, adding that Biden agreed to the interview to get on the good side of young black voters.

Responding, the "Bodak Yellow" rapper took to X, defending Biden's decision to interview with her. "You wanna know why joe gotta talk to me Candice cause I have the #1 song & yet my sister can't go to the beach in the Hampton's wit out trump supporters harassing cause they were by themselves & Santa Claus was harassing my sis GF all because they are a Afro/Hispanic gay couple," she wrote. 

But while a public feud with Cardi B might have fazed some, Owens remained unbothered. Even worse, she admitted to enjoying the feud. "I love every second of this feud. I was playing chess and she was playing checkers," she gushed to the New York Post. 

Taylor Swift might have a legion of Swifties who love her to death but Candace Owens is no fan. In October 2023 — after news about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's romance started swirling — Owens called out the pop singer for her frequently shortlived relationships. "Why hasn't any man stepped up to the plate to marry her?" Owens asked during an episode of her podcast. "Why didn't Joe Alwyn want to marry her after six years of dating her?" Elsewhere, Owens condemned Swift's regular appearances at NFL games, accusing her of only feigning an interest in football. "She's just so fake, so plastic, so manufactured, very unauthentic, and that has always been my assessment about Taylor Swift," Owens added.  

In a February 2024 episode of the "Candace Owens Podcast," the conservative commentator once again slammed Swift, this time, criticizing the singer's songs about her exes. Additionally, Owens called Swift a "toxic feminist" while accusing her of shady dealings in the music industry. "If you've seen what she's even done in business and how she tries to manipulate her audiences to get out of deals and contracts, she's totally insane," Owens said.

Unsurprisingly, Owens' attack on Swift was met with backlash from social media users who accused her of envying the singer. "Candace Owens has delusions of grandeur. She's the little nobody compared to Taylor Swift," one person wrote on X.