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Jan. 17, 2023 - Louder with Crowder
27:49
It's time to stop...
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Time Text
So, StopBigCon.com now exists to begin with.
It's been a while.
Either this, this has to stop, or I'm going to have to stop.
Either this, what I'm about to discuss, has to stop, or I don't know.
This may just not be for me anymore, so let me explain.
Give me a few minutes of your time because context matters here.
I ask that you don't skip ahead.
It won't take very long.
This has been a long time coming.
This is a conversation that I've actively avoided, sidestepped, and I've hoped and prayed that it not be necessary behind the scenes for a long while, but that's no longer possible.
If you've watched for the last decade, you know that I've always made it clear that we here at Mug Club are in the business of serving you.
The viewer, you watching, listening right now.
I've also made it clear that I wouldn't be in the business of attacking other conservatives, regardless of disagreements or personal issues.
And I've always explained my logic was relatively simple.
I believe that the world was better with more voices out there rather than less, regardless of minute differences, considering the magnitude of the battle that we are genuinely fighting for our country right now.
But for the first time, I have to say, That I believe many of those in charge in the right-leaning media are actually at odds with what's best for you, the viewer, the customer, and more importantly, the country.
We here at Mud Club, we thought that we were all in this together, that we were fighting the media, entertainment, industrial complex.
We thought that we were all genuinely taking it to big tech.
But too many of those in charge of the big conservative platforms are verifiably in bed
with them.
Big tech is in bed with big con. The people you thought, the people I thought, were fighting for
you, a lot of it has been a big con.
Now, I'm specifically avoiding naming names or going after individuals in this video because I genuinely hope that those I'm addressing, and you know who you are, have a change of heart.
It's never too late to do the right thing.
Guys, this is a genuine plea.
We can all do better.
We can all do better.
It doesn't have to be this way, and please don't make me have to provide receipts.
To the others out there, who have now been able to verify, have been locked into exploitative
contracts that I have the luxury of not having to sign, which is why I'm doing this.
Those of you out there who've been locked into this and you know what I'm talking about,
stay tuned, I've got something for you before this video is done.
So there are a few points to address.
Now many, many, but not all of the suits running the business of big conservative, big con, at best don't share your values and at worst are taking advantage of your good graces.
And as I've experienced it behind the scenes, I've watched our country be harmed as a result.
So, Mug Club.
Professionally, it's meant everything to us here.
Personally, too, but professionally, you are the entire reason for our ability, your ability, to create this kind of content truly independently for the last six years.
When I started doing, you know, right-leaning, like, comedy entertainment videos in 2009, maybe it was 2008, I really didn't have a plan.
I didn't know the blueprint, because there was no blueprint.
I didn't know the ceiling.
Because no one with this kind of content had ever really even tried it.
It was you, Mug Club, you watching, supporting, who created the ceiling, and you made it clear that all of you were going to keep raising it.
All I knew back then was that I was a conservative, I was a Christian, and there was nothing out there for someone like me.
Not on cable, not on radio, certainly not on YouTube.
And back then that was really the only video platform.
Live streaming wasn't really even a thing.
All I wanted to do was to set out to create the kind of content, the kind of show that I always wished had existed when I was growing up, and I hoped that there would be enough of you out there like me.
Here's the thing.
I was told that there weren't.
I was told by the powers that be that you didn't exist.
I was told that the only way to make a living in this business was to cater to older, conservative generations, and that comedy, that entertainment, that edgy quote-unquote content didn't work on the right side of the spectrum.
An entertainment show would never work.
You, all of you, are the only reason that I, that we here, were even remotely vindicated.
And Mug Club sealed it.
I remember exactly where I was when I thought up the idea of Mug Club.
I remember who I was with.
I remember what I was eating.
I remember why.
I could see the writing on the wall back then.
The big tech censorship on the horizon.
The diminishing advertising revenue day by day.
And I knew full well that demonetization from these platforms, it was inevitable.
But I wasn't really sure that this would work.
At that point in time, getting anyone to subscribe to anything was pretty much impossible.
Everything on the internet was basically free except for pornography.
Even, you know, Netflix, the only player in the space at the time between shipping DVDs of Poltergeist 3, they were struggling with online streaming.
But I found a great partnership back then, a partnership with a company called CRTV, which later purchased The Blaze and used that name going forward.
And on election night, 2016, so many of you signed up that the back end of our site crashed.
We couldn't handle it.
And it only grew from there.
Now, I want to be clear about something.
This video here, it's not about the Blaze.
When they were purchased by CRTV, the company's goals, their vision, simply grew further apart from mine, from ours here.
It just wasn't the right fit.
Yeah, you know, I wasn't thrilled about some things and the, you know, handling of Mug Club leaving, and that's why, you know, we launched MugClubForever.com, where you can sign up just to be able to reach you.
This really isn't about that, so I want to create some separation here.
Business relationships end all the time.
That's business.
But I was in a period to field offers from other people, other key players in this movement.
They flooded in.
Now, before you guess who it is, Before you start trying to do some Sherlock Holmes work, there are far more people beneath the tip of the iceberg than you know about who are trying to get into this space.
There are more than you would probably assume.
So I went into free agency.
I looked over the offers.
And I saw the clause come out.
And I don't just mean unreasonable demands for control, but what I would argue are immoral terms that actually punish conservative content creators on behalf of big tech.
And that's something that I just couldn't unsee.
And I want to let you know, it's not the exception.
It's the rule.
Kids, kids out there, coming up, we need to build a bench here in this movement.
It's almost impossible.
Don't sign, don't sign these contracts.
I know, I now know what you are signing out there.
I have the luxury of not having to.
I don't have to be here.
I don't have to say this.
Please, don't sign this.
Certainly not without professional legal counsel representation.
Do not sign something that includes, you know, let me go through this.
Effectively, full ownership of all your social media platforms, channels, in perpetuity, the rights to your content, name, image, likeness, even the ones that you've built.
Don't sign contracts out there that include multi-million dollar penalties for different... Let me read you an example of what I mean.
And this would be if it was me.
If Crowder fails to deliver a monthly content in any month or any of the quarterly content in the corner, including any and all ad reads, and by the way, all these contracts came with 3, 4, 5, Ad reads per show, which would fundamentally change what this show is.
Gotta get those dollar-dollar bills.
If I failed to do that, it would be a $250,000 reduction in fee per quarter.
If, let's say, we did do everything per quarter, but annually maybe missed something, like let's say we went and did a Change My Mind instead of a Daily Show, which of course requires a lot more work, it'd be a separate $1 million penalty.
For that, if you miss a single piece of content.
And the amount of content required is not in line with- Frankly, it's worse than Disney.
It's worse than ABC.
It's worse than NBC.
It's worse than CBS.
This is ownership of you and everything that you do.
But here's- Just to drive it home.
Don't sign something that has another $100,000 daily penalty.
If it's not signed off on.
Beforehand.
You get hit by a car, you have a sick day, you could lose $100,000 a day.
Hey, anyone wonder why there's burnout in this?
Anyone wonder why you have kids come up and they leave and never to come back?
You think if you had that kind of a penalty, you think if someone said, hey, we're going to penalize you $10,000 every day you miss coming into work, you think you'd be stressed?
This is worse than the left frames their contracts.
Again, I don't, of course I didn't sign any of these things.
But I now know what other kids are signing out there.
And here's the worst part.
Yeah, that's terrible.
I think it's, um, I just think that's wrong to treat people that way.
But, this is where, in going through this, and I need to take some time because, look, I've always tried to be a happy warrior, and I want to go back to that.
I haven't, I haven't been happy for a while.
I haven't been happy for a while, because when you know what goes on behind these scenes, and you see how many people are complicit, it creates an air of hopelessness.
It really does.
Where you think the people who are supposed to be linking arms and fighting with you, fighting for you, want to punish you.
So, here's the worst part.
Do not, kids, under any circumstances, sign a contract with people who claim to be conservative, but will penalize you 25% for any demonetization or sponsor boycott.
Look, let me read this to you.
If any of the major platforms... Oh no, sorry, that's the second one.
Let me go back to the first one.
There's another 20%.
It's 45% if you get a content strike.
Let's start with the demonetization.
If blank is boycotted or dropped by more than 50% of the advertising partners, The company is not able to replace him within 90 days.
The fee will be reduced by 25%.
That's a sponsorship boycott.
So that's saying, hey, liberals, boycotts work.
They work on our guys.
We'll punish them for you.
Let me go on.
Specifically, YouTube demonetization.
If any of the major platforms issues a content strike such that Crowder cannot be monetized on such a platform, and the company is not able to resolve the issue within 90 days, the fee will be reduced by 25% moving forward.
Now, I thought this was a mistake because, you know, these people maybe didn't know who I am that we've been demonetized for three years.
No, it was made very clear to me in no uncertain terms.
This is what's sent out to everybody.
And then if you get a strike, meaning a suspension, another 20% reduction.
And then another 20% if it happens on Apple.
And then another 10% if it happens on Facebook.
And then another 10% if it happens on Spotify.
Imagine you're deplatformed, as we've seen in the past, where all the major entities decide to remove you in one day.
Rather than having a conservative alternative, you would now be down to 5 to 15% of the revenue
of your contract.
Think about this for a second.
Those in charge.
The big conservative.
The big con.
And it really is the biggest con going right now.
They're making it known in their contracts.
That they will enforce the guidelines of big tech and punish conservatives on their behalf.
Hey, don't worry, Wojcicki.
Trust me, these conservatives will stay in line.
If they get demonetized, we take away 25% of their operating budget.
Take another 20% away if they get a hard strike.
Hey, don't worry, Zuckerberg.
We've got your back.
Hope to see you at the UFC Apex.
Let me ask you, can you imagine if this show Not only was never permitted to take risks per our contract as it relates to big tech guidelines, like as far as the content guidelines, right?
There's content guidelines and there's advertiser guidelines.
Can you just imagine a world where this show could never take risks in relation to those guidelines?
I'm saying things like mRNA injections, election integrity, take your pick.
But one step further, if this show had to be advertiser friendly on YouTube, Those guidelines pretty much read, don't say anything offensive ever.
Well, what's offensive?
Whatever is stuck in Susan Wojcicki's craw that day.
I wish those at the top in Big Conservative with, granted, yeah, a lot of the money, wanted to do better.
But they don't.
That's why I've created StopBigCon.com and you can be a signatory and our plans therein.
Like I've said, I have the luxury of not signing this.
I don't need it.
I've been demonetized for years.
We've adapted here precisely because of Mug Club.
You know, the free content only exists because of those who subscribe.
I've promised you we won't do more than one sponsorship spot per show.
I will keep my word on that until this show ends.
Why?
Because it's designed for you.
It's not designed for the sponsors.
If it's four, five, six, seven sponsors, They're no longer the product.
You're the product.
So we've adapted here.
I don't need this.
We've been demonetized and we're not beholden to sponsors who might get boycotted because the sponsors that we have are going to go wherever we go anyway.
We know that beyond any shadow of a doubt.
That's the luxury of doing business honestly and loyalty.
But to the kids out there coming up who don't have that luxury, please don't sign these.
You can do better.
We can all do better.
And the only reason at this point for me to stay and continue doing what I've been doing is to make sure that we all do.
That we all do better.
So, to everyone out there who refuses to sign or is under the cloud of these maybe not entirely enforceable contracts, look.
Here's your signal.
Water's warm here.
We'll produce your show.
If there are enough of you out there, I will transition Mug Club Into a full-scale network with independent content creators who don't want to be locked into slave contracts.
Look, I understand that business relationships sometimes fall through.
People don't see eye to eye.
I get that.
But there is a way to structure these contracts and a network.
There's a world in which contracts and a network exists where everyone benefits with some semblance of fairness, transparency.
There's no need to be enslaved like this.
If you're out there right now and you're making content work, on whatever scale that may be, there are levels to this game, I understand that.
And you'd like to have some backup?
You'd like to have some brothers, sisters, Z's and arms?
Some security without losing your shirt?
Send your email to creators at louderwithcrowder.com and we'll talk.
You want a partnership?
Great.
Can probably work something out.
You want the security of being an employee?
Could probably make that work too.
There are many ways to skin this cat.
And you know what?
If Mug Club or whatever network it becomes isn't for you, if this isn't the right home for you, we have lawyers in representation who will negotiate your contract for you with anyone else out there at half the market rate.
Why?
Because I don't like this.
And I'm going to end this.
We all need to end this together.
I have plenty of friends.
I could use a few enemies.
There is strength in numbers.
And if you, watching right now, right now, if you want a network that you can truly call your own, I just ask that you enter in your email at stopbigcon.com.
Entering in your email makes you a signatory.
It's a statement that you want, not just Muggla, but you want a network That does better.
So, it's either time for Mug Club to go big, or it's time for me to go home.
I can't change this all by myself.
I really can't.
And frankly, swimming upstream with just this one show, it's a futile endeavor.
So either Mug Club grows, and we, you, start setting the standard for this movement, we right this ship, or, you know what, I'll go back To doing maybe occasional videos, stand-up.
I don't need to do this.
It's that simple.
My life would be less complicated.
I just want you to think about this for a second.
There's a reason that if you felt this way, let me put it this way, and I've heard feedback from you.
If you feel in your gut that a lot of conservative content out there feels homogenous, feels sanitized, Feels like they're missing some key points.
There's a reason for that.
There's a reason that you know.
You often find yourself asking, hey, I wonder why X won't talk about Y.
And I now know any contract that I would have signed would have turned this into yet another softer radio show on video, littered with live reads for every sponsor that could be crammed into every single episode possible, devoid of the sketches, the change my mind type segments, the spontaneity, the levity that's made this show exactly what it is.
Oh, and by the way, I was told would never work by the same powers that be.
And the real reason the stakes are so high For us here, but me specifically, look, either I'm a break glass in case of emergency candidate here, just to start a network, and to actually start helping people out there who don't enjoy the same luxuries that we do of being independent.
Either that's my role moving forward, or this isn't for me.
And here's the thing, all at once it kind of hit me, and I had to take some time, I hope you understand, To really pray and contemplate this.
And it hit me.
After all of these years, even after all this time, after all of you have voted with your dollar, and your viewership and your support, you've shown what's possible, in supporting this, the largest show in the conservative movement, bar none, bar none, just to be clear.
And I don't often advertise that.
I don't lead my show with that.
I want the content to speak for itself.
But I also realize that you need to understand you're a part of something.
Bigger than maybe you realize.
It's the biggest show in the movement, bar none.
The last election night on Rumble.
Bigger numbers than any mainstream show on YouTube.
That's significant.
That's you.
And while I'm grateful and humble, false humility doesn't... it does you a disservice.
But even after all this time, after all of you have voted with your dollar, with your viewership, with your support, after you've set records, It wasn't, and it's not, I should say in the present tense, it's not that the suits in charge of these places, Big Con, and these sites, these media companies, it's not that they still believe that this show can't work.
It's not that they any longer believe that you don't exist.
Those at the top, those pulling the strings in Big Con, are bothered precisely by the fact that you do.
They don't want a group of rebellious rabble-rousers who want to learn, fight like hell, and laugh together.
You're of no value if you can't all be kept in line to some degree.
I don't mean some master plan to eliminate you.
Just subdue you a little bit.
Just soften your edges a little bit.
Just play ball a little more.
So we can keep our content all monetized.
And keep having cocktails with those in charge of big tech.
They want you to do that, and they're forcing many of the people you watch to do that.
I can't do that.
I can't do that.
And I'm willing to bet that most of you watching right now can't do that.
But okay, you know what?
No.
Let me rephrase.
Of course I could.
Of course I could do that.
I won't.
I won't do that.
And I'm willing to bet that most of you won't either.
Let me know just how many of you won't.
Enter in your email at stopbigcon.com.
Now, I just need some time to figure out how to do this.
The requirement for infrastructure is light years beyond what we would need for just this show.
Some time to solve this puzzle as to how I can best and most efficiently accommodate you.
And hopefully, some time to restore my faith in a movement which frankly has been shaken by some, not all, there are a lot of good people in this movement, but some really bad actors.
Among us, and rather than throw anyone under the bus or continue this long, drawn-out drama playing out in the public square, I'd rather focus on how to serve you, the only people who truly matter in this movement and to this company, and I would say to the future of this country, you.
The average American who's watching, not the person who's creating the content and framing the contracts, you, right now, at home, in your car, in your truck, wherever you are.
Hands on the wheel.
So in the interim, as I figure this out, pardon my dust, I'll still be on my social media pages.
The silence is over now.
I know I've been sort of gone to radio silence.
I'll still be doing stand-up shows that you can always check out at lotterworthcreditor.com slash tour.
I'll actually probably do some more of those.
I think I'm in Kentucky February 10th.
You can go and check it out.
I may even upload the occasional video.
I don't know.
You know, I don't really do a lot of press.
The last time I did it was, I think, The Vox Apocalypse, because I just do this show.
And for the first time in a while, I'll make myself available.
I'll talk about this.
So anyone who wants to learn more, anyone who has the balls to talk about this, isn't
afraid from the backlash of maybe not getting the guests from the people who want to try
and pinch us, you can send an email to media at louderwithcrowder.com.
I'm sending your inquiries here.
I'll make myself available to talk about this.
Now if we are going to keep doing this, we need to do it right.
And I need to do this in a way that does right by you.
Because you are the future of this country.
You are the catalyst for change.
Not some major media company.
Not some guy in a boardroom figuring out ways to sell you more reverse mortgages, gold, or f***ing pocket catheters.
It's you.
It's always been you.
Those in Big Con would do well to not lose sight of that.
So I want to be clear.
Make no mistake, the liberals out there foaming at the mouth, this is not me turning against conservatism or an incident of friendly fire at all.
Everything that I've ever stood for, I'm standing for now.
It's precisely because I believe what I say that I'm doing this.
And by the way, too many of these people aren't our friends.
So this is the last call.
To those conservative businesses in on the big con.
You have a chance.
Join me in making this right.
You know you've lost your way.
It's never too late to correct the course.
We can all work together and fix this.
It doesn't have to be this way.
It doesn't have to be this way.
There's no reason that it is this way.
I don't know why.
I've tried to get an answer.
I don't understand it.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Let's all reset and do it right.
And if not, hey, I'll do it without you.
And Mug Club is coming for all of it.
The viewers and the talent.
Now, to everyone else, everyone who's watched, listened, paid attention in any way, either right now or throughout the years, I just ask that you join me in letting them know that there are far more of us, far more of you than of them.
Demand change.
Demand better.
Be a signatory.
That's what this is.
It's not just entering in your email.
It's letting these people know at Big Con.
That you want something different, that you require better.
Because you know what?
I am going to march into these people's offices, these nameless, faceless people's offices, with your declaration and the number of you who exist.
Those in Big Con are personally going to know just how many of you are equally pissed.
You and the number of you out there are officially going to be their report card.
Not a handful of old money billionaires.
Not career political and non-profit lobbyists.
You.
You're a signatory.
This is their report card.
And all of you are the reckoning.
And if enough of you draft me, fine.
I'll be your instrument.
Otherwise, what are we doing here?
StopBigCon.com.
Please enter in your email, comment below, hit the like, all of that, because it helps the algorithm and you make sure that they see this.
And stay tuned.
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