I’ve been trying to avoid this new Crowder scandal related to his divorce because that’s not really what we do, especially when it comes to someone we’ve esteemed in the past.
But an article by the New York Post sheds light on what appears to be a troubling work environment aside from what’s been described as an abusive marriage.
Here’s the video posted by Yashar Ali which brought Crowder’s behavior front and center:
The Post writes about this but we’ll sum it up by saying that Crowder objects to the video above showing his abuse, claiming it’s misleadingly edited. You can read more about this there.
Here’s where we’ll start with the Post’s writeup:
But numerous former employees of the provocateur alleged these types of unhinged tirades were commonplace inside the “Louder with Crowder” office.
“I’m not shocked, but it was pathetic what he did to Hilary,” a former employee told The Post. “That might not be the Steven you see on his show, but that was the real Steven.”
The Post spoke to 10 former employees who claim Crowder ran an “abusive” company, where he often screamed at his employees — including his own father — exposed his genitals, sent out directives to arbitrarily fire people and made underlings wash his dirty laundry.
The former staffers worked for the show at different times, from its inception in 2016 through 2022.
The vast majority had left the company voluntarily.
They requested anonymity because they either feared retaliation or had signed NDAs.
All said they felt compelled to speak out about the media personality after the sickening footage was made public and his former co-host Dave Landau called him a “bully” in an interview last week.
“We don’t want Steven to suffer. We just want the abuse to stop or at least let future employees know what they’re getting themselves into,” said one former employee.
Six of those interviewed by the post say that they witnessed Crowder exposing his genitals to his employees. I don’t know all the names of those he’s worked with, but it sounds like they were all males.
And while the “Louder with Crowder” ethos was politically incorrect, his antics crossed the line.
He was known to expose his genitals to staffers, many ex-employees told The Post.
Six sources said they witnessed such lewd behavior firsthand.
A former staffer recalled driving back from Illinois in a van after a college show in March 2018, when former producer Jared Monroe, whom Crowder dubbed “Not Gay Jared,” was targeted.
“Jared was asleep in the last row. Steven was in front and he was joking about what he was going to do,” the staffer recalled. “He climbed over and dropped his junk on top of Jared’s shoulder.”
That same person also claimed Crowder exposed himself to Jared in 2017, while they were in the green-screen room filming a parody of “Ghost.” (When asked about both allegations, Monroe told The Post, “No comment.”)
And during a 2018 flight with six people from the company, another former employee said they witnessed Crowder put his testicles on his assistant and childhood friend John Goodman, who shook off the incident. (Goodman, who still works for Crowder, did not return The Post’s request for comment.)
A fourth ex-employee said Crowder exposed himself to former co-host Landau at the conference table with others present. (Landau did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.)
“It was childish. But then I found out this was something he did. At first, I took it as him trying to be friendly or one of the guys. Now I see it was a power play,” the witness said.
“If your manager at Red Lobster did this, it would be national news.”
Numerous sources noted these incidents were not part of any sketches, many of which could be bawdy and off-color.
These sources also described to the Post an extreme work environment, where Crowder demanded unconscionable amounts of time from them at times:
But Crowder, sources said, is often known for blurring the lines of professionalism.
Numerous former employees said his production assistants wash laundry in the office, including Crowder’s dirty personal items.
Many describe Crowder not as a tough boss but an “unreasonable micromanager” who would send out unrealistic assignments after hours and “set people up for failure.”
“It was like a cult where you were all in,” said one ex-employee, adding that Crowder “did not want you having a life outside of it.”
In 2017, he commissioned his small team to create a 30-minute “A Christmas Carol” parody on top of their regular workload. A few ex-employees, none of whom were paid overtime, said they logged over 100 hours in the week leading up to the release of the special and slept in the office, according to multiple sources.
In the midst of this project, Crowder sent a group text message telling them to sleep in and come into the office a bit later one day. One employee remarked, “sleep lol.”
Crowder shot back, “Be a little grateful buddy.”
The exchange, seen by The Post, angered the team, who turned it into an oft-repeated joke when they felt undervalued and overworked.
And when shows or projects fell short of his expectations, Crowder piled the blame on his staffers. “We’d tell him things wouldn’t work,” said one ex-staffer, who recalls a massive live show in 2018 not going as Crowder had planned.
“I thought, ‘Surely Steven, who micromanaged the whole thing, is going to take some responsibility here,’” they continued.
Instead Crowder put the onus on his staff. His assistant handed each employee a copy of Jocko Willink’s leadership and performance book, “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win.”
“We all thought we were going to get an apology but we got a book. It was like a sitcom,” the former staffer cracked.
Back in late 2020, while on a tear, Crowder sent out a directive to arbitrarily “fire someone. Don’t care who,” read the Discord message, viewed by The Post. The source said Crowder often dropped threats to fire people into the company’s Discord chatroom.
His irrational outbursts even extended to his father, Darrin, who works as his booker. Numerous ex-staffers said he’d lash out at his dad in front of other employees. (Darrin, who still works with his son, did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.)
“He did it regularly. And it was usually about failing to book someone he wanted on the show. Steven would say, ‘I’m supposed to get stars,’” recalled one ex-staffer who said he was approached by two other underlings who said Crowder’s behavior toward his father made them feel “uncomfortable.”
Last week, Crowder’s ex-co-host Landau called his former boss a “bully” on an episode of the podcast “Your Welcome with Michael Malice.“
“Whatever he has, and whatever he’s going through, I think he was bullied at some point in his life,” Landau said, adding, “He’s become the bully and he doesn’t realize it.”
I really hate to read this about Crowder and I’d like to think it’s not true. But often times power corrupts and it appears that has happened to some degree here.
He’s created an influential media empire and I’d hate to see that go down the tubes because he didn’t get the help he needed.