Media outlet UPROXX claimed Wednesday that The Daily Wire founder and host Ben Shapiro had received a PPP loan, despite this not being even slightly true.
UPROXX’s retraction is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. Here is all the outlet had to say about writing an article originally titled “Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Hater Ben Shapiro Got His Ass Handed To Him By Someone Who Pointed Out That He Had Over $20k Of PPP Loan Debt Forgiven.”
Just incredible content. pic.twitter.com/pvcLRSPCkD
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 26, 2022
So how did this all start? Well, Shapiro tweeted on Monday that he had “a controversial idea about paying off student loan debt: don’t take out debt you will likely be unable to pay off, and don’t ask others to pay off your debts.”
I have a controversial idea about paying off student loan debt: don’t take out debt you will likely be unable to pay off, and don’t ask others to pay off your debts.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 23, 2022
In her original article, UPROXX journo Kimberly Ricci riled against Shapiro’s supposed hypocrisy for rejecting President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel $10,000 in debt for most students because she, like many others, falsely assumed that Shapiro had almost $21,000 forgiven.
Why did Ricci have this perspective? It turns out that she and a bunch of people rage-replying to Shapiro’s tweet, read on a single website that someone called Ben Shapiro had almost $21,000 in debt forgiven. There couldn’t possibly be two men in America named Ben Shapiro, so it must be the same guy. Right?
Wrong. The Shapiro on the site was a real estate agent in California. “And because of Shapiro’s stance on public loans, a lot of people (yours truly included) erroneously assumed that he was the same Ben Shapiro,” Ricci wrote in her retraction. (RELATED: Country Superstar’s Response To Winning Major Award Will Tug At Your Heartstrings)
Listen, everyone makes mistakes. The measure of a person is how they own, apologize, and make-up for their error. Clearly, UPROXX’s Kimberly Ricci wasn’t too bothered about the utter inaccuracy of her reportage until Shapiro handed her ass right back to her in the form of a pretty brutal cease and desist order.
Hey, @UPROXX and @KimberRicci, check your inbox pic.twitter.com/gEVYMB0L3B
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 25, 2022
Overall, the entire plot line to this brief interlude to the bizarre world of reportage reads more like a high school squabble based on a game of telephone than anything else. But then again, what millennial doesn’t love a bit of drama to get their day going? Too funny, if you ask me.
