Unfortunately, major corporations pushing back against ridiculous, woke, social-media-driven hysteria is rare, but to the credit of Cumulus Media they did just that this week.
After one of the more bizarre stories in recent media memory (which is saying something), Ben Shapiro's appearance at the Podcast Movement's annual event in Dallas, Texas resulted in full-blown controversy and an apology from the organizers.
His appearance was unannounced, and apparently upset a handful of attendees at the event, who actually bullied the Podcast Movement into apologizing for Shapiro's mere presence at the event.
"Hi folks, we owe you an apology before sessions kick-off for the day. Yesterday afternoon, Ben Shapiro briefly visited the PM22 expo area near The Daily Wire booth. Though he was not registered or expected, we take full responsibility for the harm done by his presence," said Podcast Movement in a since-deleted tweet.
What kind of "harm" was done by his presence? Check out the menacing photos, like this one below.
It was one of the worst possible examples of caving to a cancel-culture mob that you will find today, and that's saying something.
To the credit of Cumulus Media (in full disclosure, my employer), they stood up for one of their own (Daily Wire is partnered with Westwood One) and cut ties with the Podcast Movement, saying in a statement, "At Cumulus Media, our tenet is that Every Voice Matters, and we support conferences and trade events where differing political viewpoints can be expressed and received with respect."
Their statement went on to note, "As such, we were dismayed and disappointed by Podcast Movement's handling of the reaction to our partner, top podcaster, and conservative talk leader Ben Shapiro's mere presence at Podcast Movement."
Believe it or not, this actually led to an apology from Podcast Movement, who came out one day later with a statement that read in part, "As we stated, we're continuing to evaluate our policies guiding social media & events with inclusivity, diversity & respect for all. We have to start by sincerely apologizing to Mr. Shapiro for our reaction when he visited a booth we sold his company. That wasn't right."
It wasn't right.
And while we will never know what role Cumulus' decision played, when major corporations like Cumulus are doing what is right, and that's just asking for all participants of any event to be treated with the same respect, it certainly doesn't hurt.
Cancel culture is wrong, no matter what direction it's pointed. But on top of that, cancel culture has been specifically pointed in one direction, oftentimes against those with more conservative beliefs. And in too many cases, major corporations have gone along with it out of fear.
I, as do the majority of Americans, want diversity of thought in the workplace, in board rooms, at podcast conferences, and everywhere in between. I often believe my own show is better when a caller or guest disagrees with my opinions in a smart, meaningful way. This makes us all better and allows us to grow and challenge our own thoughts and beliefs.f
And it's not just broadcasting companies who can take a page out of Cumulus' playbook, it's every major American corporation who has kowtowed for too long to a small subset of the population who believes they can banish people who say or believe things they don't agree with.
It's a dangerous path that we've been going down and I'm grateful Cumulus stood up for what was right.
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