Candace Owens and conservative news organization the Daily Wire ended their relationship on March 22. Owens’s supporters immediately flooded X (formerly Twitter) to accuse the company of canceling her.

Conservatives love fighting the cancellation mob. It doesn’t matter if the person is left, right, center, or from outer space. If someone is attacked for saying anything containing a speck of common sense, we immediately defend them.

Unlike many leftists, we’re able to recognize commonalities with people who have different political beliefs. J. K. Rowling, Joe Rogan, and Bill Maher are all historically liberal, but conservatives have defended all of them for questioning various left-wing ideologies.

 And it doesn’t just happen to leftists. When Fox News canceled Tucker Carlson’s show, conservatives called out the network and flocked to Carlson’s new show on X. Many right-wingers are hyper-aware of anything that smells like cancellation.

But hasty judgments, like the accusations against the Daily Wire, only cause unnecessary division and impede conservative efforts. Turning cancellation into a slur used against people you disagree with dilutes its meaning and doesn’t help the person you’re defending. 

Problems began when Jeremy Boreing, CEO of the Daily Wire, announced that it and Candace Owens ended their relationship. Daily Wire hired Owens to host a podcast in 2020; she had previously worked for PragerU and Turning Point USA. 

After the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Owens repeatedly criticized the Israeli government and questioned whether the U.S. should support the country. Her views led to spats on X with Ben Shapiro, founding editor-in-chief and current editor emeritus of the Daily Wire, and some suggested her comments were anti-semitic. 

As soon as Boreing made his announcement, Owens’s supporters jumped to X to accuse the Daily Wire of trying to cancel her because of her Israel coverage. They accused Daily Wire hosts of being Zionist shills and claimed it was proof that Jews control the media.

Never mind that Owens was happy to leave Daily Wire. After the announcement came out, she said on X, “The rumors are true –– I am finally free.” Although she claimed people had launched a smear campaign against her, she never said the Daily Wire unjustly fired her. Instead, she’s announced that she will continue her show on her own and appears entirely capable of maintaining her audience.

Nor is there evidence that she was “fired” at all. Judging from Boreing’s and Owens’ statements, the Daily Wire most likely declined to renew her contract. Everything points to the split being a mutual decision, not an attempt to silence Owens.

But even if the Daily Wire did fire Owens, the company was perfectly within its rights.

Owens has promoted theories that could undermine the company’s credibility as a news organization. She’s suggested that the moon landing was faked, and recently said she “would stake my entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron [wife of French President Emmanual Macron] is in fact a man.”

In an episode of his show posted the day of the announcement, Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan explained that the company does not claim to be perfectly objective. It has a clear conservative bias and wants to promote a specific set of values, and if any host wants to push an idea contrary to the Daily Wire’s beliefs, that host would have to leave.

Granted, Owens has contributed to conservatism. She founded the Blexit organization, which encourages economic freedom for black people, and created a documentary researching the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd riots. She has built a brand around refusing to play racial games or conform to racial stereotypes.

Given the range of her comments, perhaps the Daily Wire had a legitimate reason for parting ways with Owens, perhaps not. Either way, it has done nothing to stop her from continuing her career as a political commentator. Sometimes two decent groups split and, while unfortunate, it doesn’t signal wrongdoing.

Cancellation can ruin lives. False accusations of cancellation may not ruin the accused, but it pits conservatives against each other when they should be focused on defeating common enemies.

The Daily Wire has become a successful example of conservative alternative media. We shouldn’t try to shut it down over a single business decision.