Wikipedia

Benny Johnson (columnist)

Benny Johnson (born May 27, 1987)[4] is an American political commentator[5] and YouTuber.[6] He has contributed to several conservative and right-wing media outlets such as Breitbart News, TheBlaze, National Review, and The Daily Caller.

Benny Johnson
Johnson in 2021
Born (1987-05-27) May 27, 1987 (age 37)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.[1]
Alma materUniversity of Iowa[2]
OccupationColumnist
SpouseKatelyn Rieley
Children4
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2020–present
Genre(s)Political commentary, roasting
Subscribers2.82 million[3]
Total views3.31 billion (3,312,035,923 views)[3]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: December 29, 2024

Johnson was briefly associated with BuzzFeed but was fired from there due to several instances of plagiarism, where he used text from sources such as Yahoo Answers and Wikipedia without giving due credit.[7] Johnson has also worked for Turning Point USA and hosted for Newsmax TV.

His main YouTube channel, titled "Benny Johnson," has amassed 2.82 million subscribers and 3.31 billion views as of December 2024.[8]

Career

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In 2010, Johnson began contributing opinion pieces to the far-right website Breitbart.

From 2011 to 2012, Johnson was a full-time worker for conservative website TheBlaze.[9]

 
Johnson speaking at the 2014 International Students for Liberty Conference in Washington, D.C.

From 2012 to 2014, Johnson was a staff writer at BuzzFeed, until he was fired for plagiarism.[10]

In September 2014, Johnson became digital director at the National Review (NR).

In 2015, Johnson left NR to join the Independent Journal Review (IJR) as a creative content contributor.[11]

A month after his relationship with the IJR was terminated in October 2017,[12] Johnson joined The Daily Caller.[13][14][15]

In 2019, he became a chief creative officer at Turning Point USA.[16]

In 2020, Johnson was a host on Newsmax TV.[17][18]

Johnson runs three YouTube channels: "Benny Johnson," "Benny On The Block" and "Benny Brews."[8] Johnson also hosts a podcast called "The Benny Show."

Controversies

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On Martin Luther King Day 2013, Johnson published an image of a fried chicken.[19]

In July 2014, Johnson was suspended from Buzzfeed when an online investigation exposed plagiarism in his posts. His writings "periodically lifted text from a variety of sources" — including Yahoo Answers, Wikipedia, U.S. News & World Report — "all without credit.".[7] [20] The plagiarised work comprised almost ten percent of his work; he was subsequently fired from BuzzFeed and apologized for the plagiarism.[7]

In March 2017, IJR staffers accused Johnson of plagiarizing an article about then-House Republican Conference chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.[21] Later in the same month Johnson was suspended by the IJR after his involvement in an article which asserted that judge Derrick Watson's partial blocking of Executive Order 13780 was connected to former president Barack Obama's visit to Hawaii. Johnson had been warned that the IJR could potentially be promoting a conspiracy theory, but assigned the story anyway.[21][22]

Again in March 2017, Johnson was reported to have been verbally abusive and driven numerous staffers away from the IJR due to his management style;[22] he was subsequently demoted.[12]

In August 2017, Johnson wrote an article containing the most controversial tweets of what he thought was the Boston antifa Twitter account, but what was a fake account intended to lampoon antifa. Initially an editorial note was added, and the article was later removed.[23][24][25]

In April 2022, the Verge published an investigation on Arsenal Media, a conservative boutique co-founded by Johnson. Former employees and contractors described dubious corporate practices: payments delayed for months, contracts with political campaigns rife with self-dealing, overworked and underpaid jobs. Johnson has been described as “very abusive, very toxic, screaming at people, like using profanity, vulgarity, making women cry, like pushing them to the edge.” [26]

In May 2023, Johnson hired Nick Fuentes as a "digital specialist."[27]

In August 2024, two Russian state media employees were charged with secretly funding almost $10 million to a Tennessee company for the production of political videos to benefit Russia by influencing the United States. The company's description matches that of Tenet Media, which had employed Johnson and other right-wing influencers, with him responding that "myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme", with a request being made for him to produce content for a "media startup", and that he had a "standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated."[28][29]

In October 2024, Johnson suggested that Mitch McConnell “should be tried in Guantanamo Bay.” [30]

In February 2025, Johnson reacted to the Super Bowl LIX half time show, calling Kendrick Lamar a "talentless mumbling pagan satanic cultist." [31]

Personal life

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Johnson is married to Katelyn Rieley,[9] with whom he has four children.[32][33]

References

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  1. ^ "Benny Johnson". tpusa.com. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Votzmeyer, Colin (September 21, 2022). "UI student arrested for disorderly conduct, disturbing lawful assembly at event in Iowa Memorial Union". Daily Iowan. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "About Benny Johnson". YouTube.
  4. ^ Johnson, Benny [@bennyjohnson] (May 27, 2019). "Today is my birthday. It is also Memorial Day" (Tweet). Retrieved July 24, 2024 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ ""Fauci anklagen": Twitter-Chef knöpft sich US-Chefvirologen vor". Der Tagesspiegel (in German).
  6. ^ Sato, Mia (July 13, 2023). "Twitter says it will start paying creators this week". The Verge. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Gold, Hadas; Shutt, Jennifer (July 26, 2014). "BuzzFeed fires Benny Johnson for plagiarism". Politico. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Benny Johnson". youtube.com. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Terris, Ben (June 9, 2015). "Benny Johnson got fired at BuzzFeed. You will believe what happened next". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  10. ^ Rothstein, Betsy (December 18, 2012). "For a Fun Time at D.C. Buzzfeed, Call Benny". Ad Week. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  11. ^ Gold, Hadas (February 3, 2015). "IJReview hires Benny Johnson". Politico. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Fischer, Sara (October 20, 2017). "Scoop: Benny Johnson out at Independent Journal Review". Axios. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  13. ^ Calderone, Michael (November 17, 2017). "Moore's anti-media campaign -- Big deal frenzy -- Fixing mass shootings coverage -- Vanity Fair 'panic' -- WaPo expands media desk". Politico. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  14. ^ Nwanevu, Osita (November 17, 2017). "Today in Conservative Media: Mike Pence Was Right About Being Alone With Women". Slate Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  15. ^ Darcy, Oliver. "Reliable Sources with Oliver Darcy: Tuesday, May 2, 2023". CNN. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  16. ^ Concha, Joe (February 6, 2019). "Daily Caller reporter Benny Johnson joining Turning Point USA". The Hill. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  17. ^ Petrizzo, Zachary (November 22, 2020). "Newsmax's Benny Johnson Claims President-Elect Office Is a 'Fake Office' Made For Biden (Nope, Trump Did It Too)". Mediaite. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  18. ^ Folkenflik, David (November 30, 2020). "Newsmax rises on wave of resentment towards media — especially Fox News". NPR. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  19. ^ Pareene, Alex (December 18, 2013). "Hack List No. 3: Benny Johnson". Salon. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
  20. ^ Bucher, Chris (March 21, 2017). "Benny Johnson Suspended: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy Sports. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Mullin, Benjamin (March 21, 2017). "Report: Benny Johnson was accused of plagiarism (again)". Poynter. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Darcy, Oliver (March 21, 2017). "Inside the identity crisis at the Independent Journal Review, the outlet that has become a powerhouse in the Trump era". Business Insider. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  23. ^ Feldman, Brian (August 21, 2017). "How to Spot a Fake Antifa Account". Intelligencer. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  24. ^ Montgomery, Blake (September 7, 2017). "Here's A Guide To The Antifa Network That's Trying To Solidify A Nazi-Punching Movement". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  25. ^ Chiel, Ethan (August 22, 2017). "Right Wing Publications Can't Stop Getting Duped By Fake Antifa Accounts". GQ. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  26. ^ Kelly, Makena (April 20, 2022). "This firm made Republicans go viral — now it's falling apart". The Verge. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  27. ^ Knefel, John (September 26, 2023). "Right-wing pundits call out serial plagiarist Benny Johnson for misquoting Biden UAW comments". Media Matters for America. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  28. ^ Suderman, Alan; Swenson, Ali (September 5, 2024). "Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says". Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  29. ^ Lynch, Sarah N.; Goudsward, Andrew; Bing, Christopher (September 5, 2024). "US charges employees of Russia's RT network in crackdown on election influence efforts". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  30. ^ Staff, Media Matters (February 8, 2024). "Benny Johnson: Mitch McConnell "should be tried in Guantanamo Bay"". Media Matters for America. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
  31. ^ "MAGA Thoroughly Flips Out Over 'Satanic' Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Show | HuffPost Latest News". Retrieved February 10, 2025. Hey NFL, Trump won. We no longer let talentless mumbling pagan satanic cultists do halftime shows and pretend like people like it.
  32. ^ "KARI LAKE & BENNY JOHNSON WILL ADDRESS FAITH & FREEDOM COALITION'S "ROAD TO MAJORITY" POLICY CONFERENCE 2023". ffcoalition.com. June 13, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  33. ^ Johnson, Benny [@bennyjohnson] (September 15, 2023). "🚨BOY DAD OFFICIAL🚨 ANNOUNCING Mr. Theodore Johnson" (Tweet). Retrieved July 24, 2024 – via Twitter.
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