Corporate media loses it after Ben Shapiro and Tom MacDonald drop #1 hit 'FACTS'

Since the release of the #1 iTunes hit "FACTS" with Ben Shapiro and Tom Macdonald, corporate media outlets have been struggling to handle it.

The idea for the collaboration was floated in May of last year during an interview of MacDonald and has had many media outlets turning their heads.

Clips of the music video went viral online with the YouTube version of the collaboration gathering nearly 5 million views since Friday and tens of millions have viewed clips of the video on X.

Corporate media outlets such as TMZ reacted to the hit with dismay, with one article publishing a bolded and oversized subtitle, "Ben Shapiro: I'M A RAPPER NOW!!! ... Internet Totally Cringes."

The outlet said Shapiro is "diving headfirst into the rap game" in the single calling the song "polarizing" because of its " lyrical content, which references culture wars and defunding the police" and called the song "jarring."

The Daily Beast headlined that "Ben Shapiro Is a Rapper Now Because That's What 2024 Deserves" and wrote that "the whole thing is purposely cringe, which is the entire point."

Mediaite released a headline saying, "'Homie I'm Epic': Ben Shapiro's New Rap Video is the Cringiest Thing You Will Ever Watch."

"Nobody asked for Ben Shapiro to drop an anti-woke rap song and unbearably cringe accompanying video. And yet, here we are," the outlet wrote in the lead.

The corporate outlet then labeled MacDonald a "right-wing troll rapper." This is despite that MacDonald has explained his politics in songs such as his drop, "Names," where he rapped:

"Call me conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat,

I'm somewhere in the middle, but y'all don't know what to do with that,

The system got you so obsessed with classifying right or left,

You never call a person human, call 'em names instead."

Further in the piece, Mediaite labeled the drop "perplexing," given that Shapiro has previously been critical of rap as a genre when he posted to Twitter (now X) in 2012 that "rap isn't music. And if you think it is, you're stupid."

However, the political commentator has shown interest in MacDonald before this.

In June of 2021, Shapiro posted praise for the rapper in a Facebook post, saying, "I might have to change my opinion on rap... okay I'm joking but this is a good story," in response to MacDonald's song "Snowflakes."

MacDonald replied to the post, "Appreciate the post, Ben! I think it’s the second time you’ve posted me. Let's sit down and chat sometime... I’ll change your opinion on rap. Keep killing it dude."

Shapiro’s company, the Daily Wire, seems to have grown closer to MacDonald with other hosts reacting to some of his other hit songs and video clips, including Shapiro, suggesting that the commentator eventually warmed to the idea.

"FACTS" is still topping the charts as of Sunday.