Last week, Candace Owens dedicated three consecutive episodes of her YouTube program to unsubstantiated theories about the killing of Charlie Kirk. She suggested that a “decoy” may have been involved and questioned whether Kirk had been shot at all.
Together, the videos have attracted about 3.9 million views, highlighting the size of the audience for Owens’ increasingly controversial claims about the conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, who hired her in 2017.
In two episodes released the previous week, Owens also continued attacking Kirk’s widow, Erika. Without providing substantiation, she has alleged that Erika may have had a connection to her husband’s death.
Despite the criticism surrounding her statements, Owens’ following continues to expand. Her YouTube channel surpassed six million subscribers this summer.
The growth has coincided with increasing concern among people close to the 37-year-old commentator, who told the Daily Mail they are worried about her safety and well-being.
“I pray every day for her safety,” one family member said, expressing a wish that Owens would leave public life altogether. “I would like for her to get fully out of it. Don’t talk anymore. Just disappear.”
Those concerns have intensified amid a climate of political violence, including Kirk’s public killing and the three assassination attempts that President Donald Trump has survived.
Former members of Owens’ security team voiced similar concerns to the Daily Mail, saying that protecting her became “more challenging” as her public rhetoric grew increasingly provocative.
Candace Owens’ audience continues to expand despite her repeated promotion of controversial claims
In 2021, Owens began using the single name Candace, a branding move that echoed media titan Oprah Winfrey
Owens drew backlash after advancing theories about the death of her former boss, Charlie Kirk
Owens has also received mail for years through a Nashville military barracks address. The address is part of a state-run program generally intended to protect stalking and abuse victims by keeping their locations private.
Meanwhile, signs of tension have emerged within her family.
In August 2024, her father-in-law, Lord Michael Farmer, a British peer and former Conservative politician, issued a public statement condemning antisemitism and declaring his support for Israel.
The statement appeared to follow remarks by an unnamed “high-profile member” of Farmer’s family—an individual widely believed to be Owens.
Owens has rejected suggestions of a family feud. She said she had recently traveled with Farmer and described him as an “amazing father-in-law.”
Her claims have also created legal exposure.
Brian Harpole, Kirk’s former head of security, is suing Owens for defamation. He alleges that she improperly tied him to a conspiracy theory surrounding the killing.
Harpole is seeking at least $75,000 in damages. His lawyers have argued, however, that a jury could award substantially more—potentially millions of dollars.
The lawsuit follows a separate case filed by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte. They accuse Owens of conducting a sustained campaign intended to humiliate them, including spreading the false allegation that Brigitte is secretly a man. Both cases remain pending, and Owens is asking the courts to dismiss them.
Against this legal backdrop, Owens’s trip to Russia in June stood out.
Owens in 2019 married entrepreneur George Farmer. They are expecting a fifth child this year
Owens’ visit to Russia this year raised questions about whether she saw the country as an escape hatch from her mounting legal troubles in the US
She spoke at the Kremlin-linked St Petersburg International Economic Forum and gave gushing interviews to Russian state media, describing Moscow as ‘clean and orderly’ while suggesting American support for Ukraine was wearing thin at home.
One source who worked alongside Kirk and other conservative figures told the Daily Mail the trip may have doubled as a kind of reconnaissance – a way of testing the waters in case she ever needed to relocate to shield her assets from seizure if she loses her pending lawsuits.
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‘She [could be] preparing to protect her assets,’ the source speculated, though he cautioned she hasn’t necessarily made a final decision and could keep fighting the cases for years first.
Owens has firmly denied any plan to move to Russia, dismissing it as a ‘lie’ and one of several ‘crazy stories’ circulating about her.
Former colleagues told the Daily Mail that Owens’ ambition was simply too great for that kind of retreat. A source who worked with Owens at The Daily Wire claimed her real goal was to become a modern-day Oprah Winfrey, highlighting that in 2021, she even rebranded herself simply as ‘Candace,’ in what many viewed as an homage to the TV icon.
That same former colleague described her as someone who ‘wants to be the richest, most famous woman’ and has a sharp instinct for anticipating where public opinion is heading.
Others noted she’s been careful to cater to her largely male fanbase, reportedly saying at one point, ‘I won’t do anything to challenge the YouTube boys.’
Owens’ path has been anything but linear. Born in White Plains, New York, she started out as a progressive commentator in the 2010s before shifting sharply toward MAGA politics.
President Donald Trump and those his MAGA sphere have distanced themselves from Owens
Owens and Farmer have been linked to several properties, including this $4.2 million mansion in Nashville, Tennessee
Kirk brought her on as Turning Point USA’s communications director in 2017, and she later became a marquee host at The Daily Wire in 2020.
That relationship fell apart in March 2024, following months of friction with Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over Owens’s increasingly antisemitic commentary in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
‘I don’t think that she started attacking the Jews because she hated the Jews. It’s because it was good for clicks,’ the former Daily Wire colleague claimed.
Without an employer to answer to, Owens moved further into fringe territory – hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Holocaust denier E Michael Jones and calling convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein ‘wrongfully convicted.’
Her rhetoric escalated further after she accused Erika Kirk of being involved in her husband’s death and again when she called the Trump administration’s support for Israel ‘satanic.’
The fallout has been swift: Trump, activist Laura Loomer, and her former colleagues at both The Daily Wire and Turning Point USA all publicly distanced themselves from her.
‘I think what she’s doing to Erika Kirk is one of the most vile and evil things that I’ve ever seen in public life,’ her former Daily Wire colleague said.
Even within her own family, support has frayed. One relative acknowledged: ‘There’s some things I probably would have done differently, or said differently, or not even said.’
Ownes pictured in St Petersburg, Russia, earlier this year speaking at a conference
Owens insists she is merely brave enough to say what others are too afraid to admit.
‘I would rather be completely isolated and speak the absolute truth than sit at the table of compromise,’ she told her audience last year.
Despite losing favor with parts of the MAGA base and seeing ad revenue dip amid backlash from Jewish organizations, Owens continues to earn a substantial income through her podcast, books and paid speaking appearances.
Her business is run out of a large property in Nashville, Tennessee, where her husband, British entrepreneur George Farmer, helps manage operations.
The couple married in 2019 and are expecting their fifth child this year – even as people who know her say she’s grown more isolated.
Opinions are split on what comes next. Some believe she’s simply too skilled at reading and riding cultural currents to fade from view; others think her choices are setting her up for her own downfall.
The Daily Mail reached out to Owens for comment.