While Steven Crowder has been trying to stir up a boycott of Target stores, the right-wing political commentator may have become the target for a boycott himself.
Crowder called on his supporters to avoid Target after he showed the chain is selling transgender women’s bathing suits. But the reaction to his campaign by some people included a reminder of video footage showing he was emotionally “abusive” to his ex-wife.
In late April, a video was released showing Crowder verbally berating his wife, who was eight months pregnant with their twins at the time. Crowder received widespread backlash once the video went public, with another political commentator, Candace Owens, calling him “horrific.”
YouTube @SteveCrowder
On Thursday, Crowder shared a clip from his show, Louder with Crowder, on which a person shared news about “tuck-friendly bathing suits” at a Target store. Crowder called the product a “bulge-hiding bathing suit for a child.”
Writing to his 2 million Twitter followers, Crowder simply wrote: “Boycott Target.”
In response, many Twitter users simply wrote: “Boycott Crowder,” while others were more detailed and scathing with their criticism.
“Boycott Steven Crowder for literally being an abuser racist divorced loser,” Twitter user @qtsuperstar wrote. Another verified Twitter user said “People should be boycotting you, the way you abuse your wife like that.. ex wife now.”
Drawing on the allegations made against him, @Nyxi_Tryxi called on people to “boycott spousal abuse.”
In April, journalist Yashar Ali released Ring video footage, dated from June 2021, on his Substack. It showed Crowder, 35, warning his wife to “f****** watch it,” during what appeared to be a disagreement over her wishes to drive their car.
In the footage, which lasts about three minutes, Steven Crowder was seen sitting on a porch while smoking what appeared to be a cigar as he voiced his objection to her not adhering to the “boundaries” he had set for her.
Newsweek has reached out to Steven Crowder via email for comment.
1. EXCLUSIVE
I’ve obtained over three minutes of video of Steven Crowder being emotionally abusive toward his pregnant wife, Hilary.
In a statement sent to me, her family says she hid the emotional abuse she was dealing with for years. https://t.co/U28rGt2aSH pic.twitter.com/ZN8ai04fvK
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 27, 2023
Not everyone seemingly dismissed Crowder’s efforts, as some of his supporters agreed with the sentiments and stated their intention to boycott Target stores.
“Walmart is way better than Target anyway,” wrote @PeregrineMemes. “We will not negotiate with those trying to destroy society. Once u cross the Woke line, there’s no going back. Will never step foot in another Target, again.”
Without bringing up his divorce or past interactions with his wife, others objected to the boycott by simply explaining why it was a bad idea.
“That’s a uphill battle. A very large hill, covered in ice. Good luck with that,” @Addicted2Anger wrote, weighing up the size of the task. Conspiracy theory podcast presenter Abby Libby asked: “Why would you boycott Target and not YouTube,” after Crowder had recently had a number of his videos removed from the platform.
The call to avoid Target comes at a time when there have been calls to boycott multiple brands, like Bud Light, Miller Lite and Adidas from right-wing campaigners.