Taylor Swift is the “most toxic feminist that’s ever existed,” according to Daily Wire host Candace Owens.
The declaration came during a Tuesday event hosted on Daily Wire+, and it even managed to surprise fellow Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, perhaps best known for the controversial documentary What Is a Woman?
Owens discussed a number of topics with Walsh, Ben Shapiro, Jeremy Boreing, Michael Knowles, and Andrew Klavan, including Taylor Swift. Owens made it immediately clear her low opinion of Swift, referencing both her tendency to write songs about exes and her public battle to regain the rights to her music from music executive Scooter Braun, who owned a catalog of the artist’s music after purchasing Big Machine Label Group in 2019.
“Obviously, 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. She’s the most toxic feminist that’s ever existed,” Owens said.
She called Swift’s songs about exes “psychotic” and dismissed her current relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as a “business move” for the pair.
The “most toxic feminist” label appeared to go a bit far for Walsh, who said could only mostly agree with Owens’ fiery statement.
“I basically agree with everything you’re saying about Taylor Swift. She is awful. I think calling her the most toxic feminist ever is quite a statement,” he said to laughs. “That’s a high bar.”
Walsh has encouraged conservatives to counter-program Swift with their own cultural offerings rather than simply ignoring or criticizing. He’s argued some of the Swift haters simply benefit her and make her more relevant for people who would never pay attention to her otherwise.
Owens doubled down on her branding of Swift, calling her a toxic feminist, knocking her for saying in 2014 that Girls star Lena Dunham, an outspoken liberal, had taught her about feminism.
“She literally said, ‘Lena Dunham taught me feminism,’ which basically means that you can get whatever you want so long as you’re able to sell to people that you’re a victim because you’re a woman, and she has done [that] to the tune of a billion dollars,” Owens raged.
The Daily Wire host and author has earned plenty of pushback for views before, including recently revealing she’d be “terrified” of flying on a plane with a female pilot if the airline had DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) policies because she’d question if they were qualified.
She’s also feuded with her Daily Wire boss, Ben Shapiro, over her differing views on the Israel-Hamas war (Shapiro is a staunch defender of Israel’s mission to eliminate Hamas). He encouraged her in November to “by all means” quit the company after he criticized her on the issue and she called him “emotionally unhinged.”