Fact Check: Did Ben Shapiro Try to Derail the Careers of Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens?
Purported texts between Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk have set social media ablaze, alleging Ben Shapiro tried to torpedo their careers and pressured Megyn Kelly to issue a damaging statement about Owens.
Candace Owens lit up X again, this time dropping what she says are private texts with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk that paint Ben Shapiro as trying to, in her words, kill their careers. It is messy, and the receipts are already under a microscope.
What kicked this off
On Nov 7, 2025, Owens posted a thread alleging Shapiro had been working behind the scenes to tank her reputation and position himself as Kirk's defender. She also claimed he tried to rope Megyn Kelly into it with a false premise about Owens and Kirk's wife, Erika. Owens even described Shapiro as "completely deranged."
He tried to pressure Megyn Kelly to make a statement about me by lying through his teeth and explicitly saying I accused Erika Kirk of killing her husband.
Owens says she shared the alleged texts after Shapiro told people she accused Erika Kirk of having her husband killed. The internet split immediately: some took the screenshots as proof, others called them fake.
What the alleged texts say
In the screenshots, Kirk appears to vent about Shapiro and claim Shapiro wanted to wreck both his and Owens' influence. The back-and-forth reads like personal and professional rivalry, with some dramatic, Game of Thrones-ish metaphors tossed in. Owens followed up on Nov 8 saying this was just one of about 300 similar messages she has and spoke about Kirk as if he were gone, while hinting at political motives around his death. To be clear: none of that has been independently verified here.
Why people are skeptical
Within hours of Owens' posts, internet sleuths started picking apart the screenshots. One breakdown thread from @CBHeresy on Nov 8 argued the images don't look like real iPhone Messages captures and that the writing on both sides reads suspiciously alike.
- Typography and Messages UI elements looked off compared to standard iPhone chats.
- Both "speakers" use a similar tone, syntax, and phrasing, which critics say points to a single voice.
- Spacing and layout quirks in bubbles and timestamps didn't match Apple's design.
- Overall, the design language didn't line up with current iOS, according to the thread's analysis.
Owens hasn't deleted the posts, and the debate is still raging. Some want Shapiro to weigh in; others see this as another classic Owens dust-up.
Where this lands
As of now, there is no verified evidence that Ben Shapiro tried to "kill" the careers of Charlie Kirk or Candace Owens. The authenticity of the Owens-Kirk texts is unproven, and the audience is split between believers and skeptics. Until someone produces verifiable originals or corroboration, this stays in allegation territory.
What do you make of the screenshots: legit receipts or internet fiction?