Louder with Crowder - January 19, 2023


I didn't want to do this...


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

166.89508

Word count

2,598

Sentence count

203


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

On today's show, Alex Blumberg talks about his exit from the Daily Wire and why it's not about the money. Alex also talks about why he decided to leave and why he thinks the conservative movement needs to change its business model.

Transcript

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00:00:00.000 Peace.
00:00:10.000 Those things are worth like $5,000 now.
00:00:13.000 It's an expensive gag.
00:00:14.000 Waste place for a little bit.
00:00:16.000 Thank you.
00:00:18.000 Waste place for a little bit.
00:00:22.000 God bless the talk boy.
00:00:26.000 Those things are worth like $5,000 now.
00:00:28.000 It's an expensive gag.
00:00:30.000 So, didn't want to have to do this, but daily wire out of themselves
00:00:34.000 very, very quickly.
00:00:36.000 And sure enough, if you see all of the people who work there, some of whom I have relationships with, they immediately tried to make this all about money.
00:00:48.000 Here's the problem.
00:00:49.000 There are a few problems.
00:00:50.000 And I'll go through with some receipts.
00:00:52.000 Everything that was said about negotiations, how they transpired, beyond the numerical value, which is true and I'll get to, everything else is untrue.
00:01:02.000 I don't really want to get into that.
00:01:03.000 It's completely irrelevant.
00:01:04.000 Here's why.
00:01:07.000 Go back to the 20-something minute video.
00:01:09.000 30 minute video.
00:01:10.000 You've never heard me say or write anywhere online that these offers weren't paying enough money.
00:01:19.000 Why?
00:01:20.000 Because it's not about the money!
00:01:24.000 It's kind of unreal to me that the only thing these people can still talk about is the money.
00:01:28.000 The conversation was about conservatism, the movement, and big tech.
00:01:34.000 They keep talking about money.
00:01:36.000 I'm talking about a country.
00:01:37.000 I'm talking about a movement.
00:01:39.000 I'm talking about making a difference.
00:01:42.000 It's not about the money.
00:01:43.000 And Jeremy and the Daily Wire know that.
00:01:46.000 How do I know they know that?
00:01:48.000 Because after According to what he said, you know, I walked away from the offer.
00:01:52.000 I did place one more call to the Daily Wire and I made it very, very clear that it wasn't about money.
00:02:00.000 That was not the topic of conversation.
00:02:02.000 There was zero, as they've tried to portray this, miscommunication.
00:02:07.000 It was one last call where the only thing that I asked for, my only demand, was their word and not even for me.
00:02:19.000 Let's say it's a kid who comes in with 500,000 YouTube subscribers or something like that, 100,000.
00:02:28.000 Let's say it's some other kid, you're paying six figures to come in and do it.
00:02:32.000 There's not the penalty of the demonetization or if they're removed from iTunes, Apple, YouTube.
00:02:42.000 Here's something else.
00:02:43.000 I was also very measured.
00:02:46.000 I was painstakingly clear in taking myself off the table because it wasn't going to be a right fit.
00:02:52.000 That happens in business all the time.
00:02:55.000 But that we weren't talking about me.
00:02:57.000 We were talking about the futures of other people who could potentially be in that position.
00:03:03.000 That very disconcerting position.
00:03:05.000 No miscommunication.
00:03:08.000 What I'm talking about is, you're describing a model for everyone, a model for everyone, not just, let's get rid of me here.
00:03:15.000 Everyone, if there's a penalty for being demonetized on YouTube, because your business model requires that be a huge component of it, you need to change your business model or this movement cannot work, Jeremy.
00:03:28.000 I can't imagine my show trying to come up And be beholden to YouTube advertiser guidelines.
00:03:35.000 Let alone, I mean, honestly, being beholden from a conservative entity with hard strikes, right?
00:03:41.000 Being removed.
00:03:42.000 But let alone being advertiser friendly.
00:03:44.000 We know how broad those guidelines are.
00:03:45.000 They might as well just read, don't say anything offensive, and they change them at the drop of a hat.
00:03:52.000 I'm not suggesting that the guidelines aren't terrible.
00:03:55.000 I'm suggesting that if making money off of those platforms is part of how you're justifying the salary
00:04:00.000 you're paying someone, then when, or the fee you're, I keep saying salary, the fee you're paying someone,
00:04:06.000 then when those go away, everybody loses money.
00:04:11.000 You can't pay the same amount with less revenue.
00:04:13.000 How about you create a different business model?
00:04:15.000 Now, I know what some of you are thinking.
00:04:17.000 Of course, telling someone else, hey, change your business model.
00:04:19.000 I get it.
00:04:20.000 I'm in no position to say that.
00:04:23.000 Unless, instead of Monday morning quarterbacking it, here's the thing.
00:04:29.000 I didn't just offer criticisms.
00:04:31.000 I offered a guide on how to... Here's the deal.
00:04:34.000 I want to sit at the table with people who, granted, have an immense amount of power and have incredibly deep pockets.
00:04:40.000 That is all true, to be clear.
00:04:43.000 And by the way, it's something that I want to have.
00:04:46.000 On our side of the aisle.
00:04:48.000 But I offered a guide on how to do it.
00:04:50.000 It is incumbent, this is what this is about, it is incumbent upon conservatives, if we believe what we say, to uncouple, to divest, if you want to use that term, from big tech.
00:05:04.000 For the business models of the movement, as we move forward, to not rely on playing ball with Facebook And with YouTube.
00:05:12.000 That is something that we have to move toward.
00:05:15.000 You know that we've been trying to do that here for years.
00:05:17.000 That's why every single show we say, hey, if you can watch on Rumble, please do so.
00:05:21.000 We're not looking to be banned on YouTube, but we certainly won't compromise the truth in order to be advertiser friendly.
00:05:30.000 Here's the thing.
00:05:31.000 Here's the thing, Daily Wire, Jeremy, and I really do hope that we can talk at some point.
00:05:36.000 Please, you can pick up the phone.
00:05:37.000 We've done that.
00:05:39.000 We here have found a way to make that work.
00:05:43.000 For proof, see election night, our numbers on rumble there, and see the numbers on rumble
00:05:47.000 when we get suspended from YouTube.
00:05:48.000 I think it was four times this last year.
00:05:51.000 And I went to great lengths to communicate that to the people at Daily Wire.
00:06:06.000 That's being the arm of big tech.
00:06:08.000 What you just said is, well, we have to play ball with big tech if we want to make money.
00:06:12.000 Well, I don't.
00:06:13.000 Why don't you guys follow a model like I have and scale it?
00:06:16.000 That's what I've been doing since 2014.
00:06:18.000 You know that.
00:06:19.000 I've been trying to make sure, which I thought we were all doing, that we can all flip the bird to Silicon Valley.
00:06:26.000 This is saying we need him and you need to play ball.
00:06:30.000 And by the way, before some of you ask this, um, look, there's always personal information, uh, on, on phone calls.
00:06:36.000 And for the record, I've recorded three people on phone calls in my life.
00:06:42.000 All three are involved with big tech.
00:06:45.000 Just to be clear, the entire call transcript has been sent to others to verify without hopefully having to release the whole thing.
00:06:52.000 And I'll be on Tim Pool's show, I believe, on Monday to talk about it.
00:06:55.000 Now, this is something else that's been brought to my attention.
00:06:58.000 That, you know, look, some people have been sent out from Daily Wire and have gotten very, you know, very personal.
00:07:04.000 Obviously when we released this video we didn't name names and I told you there are a lot of people in the space who have made offers and it is true.
00:07:11.000 There are quite a few and there are some others that have been pretty similar to this.
00:07:14.000 This isn't an incredibly unique scenario but there have been some good people out there too and we're still talking with them.
00:07:20.000 So I do know that some people from Daily Wire have sort of come out, maybe been instructed to, I have no idea, I don't care, and they've gotten very personal.
00:07:30.000 I don't want to do that.
00:07:31.000 At least I didn't want to.
00:07:33.000 But now it's sort of necessary for me to do so.
00:07:36.000 So these are the only personal things I will say about the people at Daily Wire.
00:07:43.000 Andrew Klavan is one of my favorite people of all time.
00:07:48.000 He has an unbelievable skill to make you feel like the smartest guy in the room even though I guarantee you he's smarter than you.
00:07:54.000 There are very few people whose company I enjoy more than Andrew Klavan.
00:07:57.000 Jordan Peterson Is not only a friend, I would go to the wall for him.
00:08:02.000 He's a guy who has changed the landscape of our country for the better.
00:08:06.000 Can't say enough good things about him.
00:08:07.000 Ben Shapiro is possibly the smartest person I know.
00:08:12.000 That's as personal as I'll get.
00:08:14.000 Now, here's the thing.
00:08:15.000 Only after that final call, after negotiations had followed through, pleading on the side of principle and knowing that it was completely met with deaf ears, did I come out like I did.
00:08:29.000 See, here's the thing.
00:08:30.000 They keep talking about a business.
00:08:34.000 Well, I walked away from the table because I'm talking like it's about a country, about a movement.
00:08:38.000 And this is the thing.
00:08:38.000 The response that I've heard over the years, it's not just now.
00:08:41.000 I've been doing this for a long time.
00:08:43.000 You constantly hear, it's just business.
00:08:45.000 It's just business.
00:08:47.000 Well, guess what?
00:08:49.000 It's not to me.
00:08:51.000 Sure, I run a business, but it's not just business.
00:08:54.000 And let me ask you, when have you ever heard someone say it's just business when they're doing the right thing?
00:09:01.000 Ever hear someone give $250,000 to charity and say it's just business?
00:09:05.000 And here's something that I would like to ask you, because I know that they've tried to play the identity politics and, you know, misrepresent the whole financial situation.
00:09:14.000 But yeah, over the course of four or five years, the total operational budget, meaning 25, 30 employees, all of the costs, security, health insurance, would have been somewhere in the $50 million ballpark for that total operational budget.
00:09:28.000 That is true.
00:09:29.000 Okay.
00:09:31.000 First off, I think It's a good thing for conservative companies out there to be generating or capable of generating far more than that.
00:09:39.000 It'd be better than just Disney and just Netflix and just Hulu Plus and I'd like the people who are in charge of that to be people who are willing to walk away from that if it comes with strings attached.
00:09:49.000 With people who hate everything you stand for.
00:09:52.000 So, let's take that at face value.
00:09:55.000 Okay?
00:09:57.000 I want you to ask yourself this question.
00:09:59.000 Okay?
00:10:00.000 Put yourself in my shoes.
00:10:05.000 What would it take?
00:10:07.000 How much do your principles matter to you?
00:10:10.000 What kind of a headspace would you have to be in to walk away full stop from $50 million?
00:10:17.000 Let me ask you even further.
00:10:21.000 What would it take for you to be willing to walk away from at least $50 million because of it causing harm to someone else that doesn't even affect you?
00:10:33.000 But the next kid.
00:10:35.000 I've talked about this.
00:10:36.000 You know, you have it in comedy.
00:10:37.000 I'm never going to be the guy who pulls the ladder up after me.
00:10:43.000 What motivates me is not money.
00:10:46.000 Of course, everyone here likes nice things.
00:10:47.000 They want to make a living.
00:10:48.000 You've heard me say this many times.
00:10:50.000 I want to pass the torch.
00:10:52.000 I want there to be someone else to do this.
00:10:54.000 It can't happen if this is how our movement is structured.
00:11:01.000 And you know that, by the way, This could do irreparable damage to the movement, the country, and the people who've fought so hard for the ground gained if we've decided to get in bed with these people who want to strip it away.
00:11:13.000 I'm asking, would you walk away?
00:11:15.000 What would it take for you to walk away from $50 million?
00:11:19.000 Because it's true.
00:11:20.000 That's exactly what I did.
00:11:24.000 It's exactly what I'm doing.
00:11:26.000 And so long as these contracts out there include enforcement Of big tech.
00:11:32.000 Of punishing conservative creators on behalf of the people we claim to fight and the people who have long since demonetized us and can't stand me and part of me doesn't blame them!
00:11:45.000 As long as these contracts include that, not even for me, but the next person, I wouldn't take a billion dollars.
00:11:53.000 And certainly not if, you understand in context, when behind closed doors I know, and these people know and acknowledge, exactly what's
00:12:04.000 being done to the next generation of creators.
00:12:07.000 Bench talent, young talent, they don't get deals like this.
00:12:10.000 So, they don't get deals that...
00:12:13.000 They can be wage slaves for a little bit, come over and make a salary and grow their
00:12:18.000 brand.
00:12:19.000 That you then own?
00:12:20.000 Well, I own parts of it.
00:12:21.000 I don't own it.
00:12:22.000 They can, when they want to, they can.
00:12:25.000 This contract owns it in perpetuity even after the contract.
00:12:27.000 You're paying a lease but getting ownership.
00:12:28.000 go do a show somewhere else, they'll be in a far, far, far better place. You helped make them.
00:12:33.000 No, not long after this contract. This contract owns it in perpetuity even after the contract.
00:12:38.000 You're paying a lease but getting ownership. That's what this contract is.
00:12:42.000 On the content that we paid to produce, yes.
00:12:45.000 Look, I understand there are going to be differing opinions on this.
00:12:49.000 I understand that.
00:12:50.000 As someone who does run a business and has 20, I think maybe 25 employees, I don't know, we're expanding, I understand people run businesses differently and have different priorities.
00:13:01.000 Here's the thing, I would genuinely still, Daily Wire, Jeremy, love to sit down at the table and explain to you how you can make all of this work How you can scale what we do and not have to be beholden to the people who... We all go out and claim that we're fighting.
00:13:26.000 And especially with all of the financial resources.
00:13:29.000 that you have, which by the way are very impressive. And by the way, since fielding requests for people
00:13:35.000 who've sent this in, you guys are under these kinds of contracts, right, you've sent in your emails
00:13:40.000 if you're looking to either join a network or looking to navigate these contracts.
00:13:44.000 We've been flooded. I'm going to try and get to all of you, but here's the thing. Let me give you
00:13:49.000 my word right now. My word.
00:13:52.000 Everyone, you can timestamp it, call me on it.
00:13:54.000 Here at Mug Club, we will never take any ownership over your social media platforms or your channels, and I don't want a dime ever of your YouTube revenue.
00:14:07.000 You make your own decision as to whether you want to be monetized or not.
00:14:09.000 Some people want to, some people don't.
00:14:13.000 I just have a problem with requiring that you do, and penalizing you.
00:14:18.000 If you don't.
00:14:19.000 And to Daily Wire, to the rest of the people out there, give me a call and look, let me put it this way.
00:14:30.000 If you give me your word, this is all that matters here, just give me your word that there will never be a clause in a contract again for some unsuspecting kid or someone who doesn't have the luxury to walk away from $50 million, as I did.
00:14:44.000 True, guilty as charged.
00:14:46.000 Give me your word that you will not penalize them 25% for demonetization, another 20% for a strike, another 20% for Facebook, Spotify, Apple, up to 80%.
00:14:57.000 Just give me your word That that clause, that that spirit, will not be in any contract sent out to anyone else who's at the front lines fighting for this country.
00:15:10.000 And we're done.
00:15:12.000 All of this stops right now.
00:15:13.000 You will never hear from me again.
00:15:16.000 I will go out and sing your praises.
00:15:19.000 You can pick up the phone.
00:15:20.000 You have my word.
00:15:21.000 That's all it is.
00:15:23.000 That's all this is about.
00:15:27.000 In the interim, to everyone else, StopBigCon.com.
00:15:32.000 Be a signatory.
00:15:33.000 I'll see you Monday.