Steven Crowder: who is wife Hilary, what happened in video - Twitter feud with Candace Owens explained

Ring wing media personality Steven Crowder has been accused of abuse by his wife Hilary after he revealed that she was divorcing him. Her family released a statement which said that “Hilary spent years hiding Steven's mentally and emotionally abusive behaviour from her friends and family”. They also released a Ring Camera video in which Crowder could be heard screaming “I will f**k you up” at his eight month pregnant wife. 

This is everything you need to know about the situation, and how Candace Owens got involved.    

Who is Steven Crowder and wife Hilary

Crowder is an American-Canadian YouTuber known for his right wing views and political commentary. 

From 2009 to 2012, Crowder worked for Fox News, producing political videos on YouTube, appearing regularly on Fox News and writing frequently for the Fox News website on a variety of topics. In 2011, he served as the emcee at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). 

Fox News parted ways with Crowder in 2013 shortly after he made negative comments about Fox News host Sean Hannity and Fox News itself.  

Crowder is known for shows like Louder with Crowder, which became a daily programme on Conservative Review’s streaming service CRTV in 2007, and the Change My Mind segment, in which Crowder sits at the table with a sign that says “change my mind”, inviting members of the public to debate him and attempt to change his mind on a controversial topic. 

On YouTube, the Louder With Crowder podcast boasts nearly six million subscribers. 

Crowder’s YouTube channel has been demonetised twice - first in 2019 after he repeatedly used racist and homophobic slurs. It was demonetised again in 2021 with Crowder removed from the YouTube partner program for “violating [YouTube’s] presidential election integrity policy’ after he challenged the legitimacy of the vote in Nevada. 

In October 2022, his channel was suspended again for two weeks for violating its harassment, threats and cyberbullying policies. 

Earlier this year, on 3 March, Crowder announced that he would be moving his show from YouTube to Rumble. 

He married his wife Hilary Crowder (née Korzon) in August 2012 - after his wedding, Crowder published a piece on Fox News about the benefits of practising abstinence before marriage as a Christian couple. 

He wrote: “As anyone who’s read my abstinence column here at Fox News Opinion could guess, my wedding is something that I’ve looked forward to for quite some time. After having tied the knot at the end of August, I can now say beyond all shadow of a doubt, that it was everything I’d hoped and prayed that it would be since childhood.”

Hilary is an interior designer and former sales manager who studied political science at Calvin College in Michigan. 

In 2021, Crowder shared that Hilary suffers from Guillain-Barré syndrome, which the NHS describes as a “very rare and serious condition” which “mainly affects the [nerves in] the feet, hands and limbs, causing problems such as numbness, weakness and pain”. 

Together the couple share twins Magnus and Charlotte, whom they welcomed in August 2021. 

Are they getting divorced?

On Tuesday (25 April), Crowder posted a video on YouTube announcing that he has been going through a “horrendous divorce” since 2021. In the video, Crowder repeatedly referenced his issues with Texas law allowing his wife to divorce him without his consent.

He said: “I have been living with a proverbial boot on my neck for going on years now; since 2021, I have been living through what has increasingly been a horrendous divorce. And no, this is not been my choice. My then wife decided she didn't want to be married anymore. And in the State of Texas, that is completely permitted. She simply wanted out, and the law says that is how it works. 

“It's no one else's fault but my own in that I picked wrong. And that certainly isn't the fault of my children.”

Hilary’s family later released a statement to writer Yashar Ali, accusing Crowder of emotional abuse. 

They said: “Hilary is currently living alone in Dallas, apart from her family and support system in Michigan, and is focused on taking care of her young children. She is not prepared at this time to speak about her divorce becoming public or the misleading statements made by Steven about their relationship.

“The truth is that Hilary spent years hiding Steven's mentally and emotionally abusive behaviour from her friends and family while she attempted to save their marriage. She was the one who was asking to work on their relationship to keep the marriage intact for their unborn children.

“In June of 2021, Steven left their home to pursue elective surgery. Hilary urged him to get the help he needed to address his abuse with the hope that their marriage could be saved and they could peacefully live together as a family. Instead, Steven refused to do so and chose not to be with his wife during the birth of their twin children. After the birth, Steven bought a townhouse and left their home permanently. Hilary was unaware that Steven had hired a divorce attorney and asked his assistant to cut Hilary off financially. There is significant documentation substantiating these facts.

“We hope that Steven will cease speaking publicly about these personal matters in an untruthful manner. We also look forward to there being full transparency in the legal process so there is fairness and accountability for the actions that caused the divorce, and to ensure the outcome is what is in the best interests of the young children.”

The family also released footage from a Ring Camera which showed Crowder verbally berating his eight month pregnant wife. The video, which was captured in June 2021, showed Crowder admonishing his wife for not “performing wifely duties” in a way that pleased him. 

In the video, Crowder demands that Hilary put on gloves to give his dogs medicine which she was concerned was toxic to pregnant women. He snaps at her to do it and to walk them, and says that if she really was committed to their marriage, she would do it.  

At the end of the exchange, Hilary says to Crowder that his “abuse is sick”, to which Crowder replies: “What it. F**king watch it.”

Moments later off camera, Crowder screams at Hilary, “I will f**k you up”, leading to her fleeing their home. 

How did Candace Owens get involved?

Candace Owens, who is also a conservative political commentator, got involved in the situation with Crowder after he accused her of attempting to extort him with the details of his divorce.

In his video on Tuesday, Crowder referred to “other people” in “positions of power, influence, [and] leverage” who knew about the divorce, and said that they “knew that the safety of my children included keeping it private. So if you’re familiar with the idea of extortion. Then you know the feeling … some of these threats were so thinly veiled that I’m frankly surprised you didn’t all guess immediately”. 

He then followed up with a clip of Owens from earlier in the year in which she appeared to hint at his marriage issues, attributing his issues with the Daily Wire to these problems. In January, Crowder turned down a $50 million deal to join the Daily Wire - something which he described as a “slave contract”. 

In the clip, Owens, who is employed by the Daily Wire, said: “Steven has a lot going on, I guess is the best way to say it. He has a lot going on and that should be clear because people don’t do stuff like this if there’s not a lot going on in their life.”

She continued: “I am unsure at this moment if it is my place to say more than that. Maybe if I feel, in further defence, something should be said, or maybe if I feel that the public has a right to understand certain circumstances.”

Crowder added that he would be taking legal action if the YouTube drama delved too deeply into his personal life, stating: “I’ll be handling this through the proper legal avenues and channels available as a matter of record in which I have more than full confidence.”

Owens responded by posting a video titled “Steven Crowder Accused Me of Extortion” in which she threatened legal action of her own. 

She said that she had “contacted a defamation lawyer” and that she was sending Crowder a “cease and desist”. 

Owens ended her video by inviting Hilary onto her platform to share her side of the story and “talk about what’s actually going on”. 

Owens also tweeted: “Steven Crowder accusing me of extortion is so patently insane that it honestly makes me question how there are still people who cannot see how thoroughly undone he has become. This is not stable behaviour. He is a man on a spiral. Outright bizarre and concerning.”