Ezra Levant | |
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 Levant in 2008 | |
| Born | Ezra Isaac Levant February 20, 1972 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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| Notable work | Ethical Oil |
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Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian[4] media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The Western Standard. He is also the co-founder, owner, and CEO of the far-right[5] media website Rebel News. Levant has also worked as a columnist for Sun Media, and he hosted a daily program on the Sun News Network from the channel's inception in 2011 until its demise in 2015.
Levant rose to prominence in 2006 after publishing the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons in The Western Standard, which led to a protracted legal battle with the Alberta Human Rights Commission regarding hate speech legislation and freedom of speech. The complaint against Levant was ultimately withdrawn. In February 2015, Levant co-founded Rebel News with Brian Lilley; Lilley left Rebel News in 2017 citing lack of editorial standards. Under Levant, Rebel News has been described as a platform for the anti-Islamic ideology known as counter-jihad.[6][7]
Levant self-identifies as a libertarian conservative.[8] He has been identified by others as belonging to the Canadian far right.[9][10] Levant has expressed support for the Canadian petroleum industry and for fracking. Levant has been successfully sued for libel on multiple occasions, while apologies and retractions were issued by him or on his behalf on numerous other occasions.[11][12]
- ^ "Why demonize the Rebel for daring to criticize 'political Islam'?". National Post. September 2017.
- ^ "Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands". nbbaward.com.
- ^ "Ezra Levant". The Governor General of Canada.
- ^ Anderson, Drew (2017-08-14). "Ezra Levant's 'damage control' not enough for UCP leadership hopeful taking on The Rebel". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-01-26.
- ^
- Perry, Barbara; Scrivens, Ryan (19 August 2019). Right-Wing Extremism in Canada. Springer International. p. 37. ISBN 978-3-030-25169-7. Retrieved 21 October 2020 – via Google Books.
In 2015, he established Rebel Media, a far-right outlet that regularly features global and domestic "stars" of the nationalist movement.
- Titley, Gavan (2 July 2020). "The distribution of nationalist and racist discourse" (PDF). Journal of Multicultural Discourses. 15 (3). Taylor & Francis: 7. doi:10.1080/17447143.2020.1780245. S2CID 221521303. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
Far-right Twitter accounts come and go, often generating significant traction without any obvious relation to organised movements. As a stage of his reinvention of self after the EDL, its leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon ('Tommy Robinson') reinvented himself as a journalist, working for the Canadian far-right media company Rebel Media.
- Mirrlees, Tanner (3 August 2018). "The Alt-right's Discourse on "Cultural Marxism": A Political Instrument of Intersectional Hate". Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice. 39 (1). Mount Saint Vincent University: 61. ISSN 1715-0698. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
The Rebel Media, a far-right news organization, published articles by Canadian alt-right propagandists such as: "Want to sop cultural Marxist indoctrination? Cut public funding of universities" (Nicholas 2017); "Social justice is socialism in disguise" (Goldy 2016); and "How progressives use our kids for Marxist social experiments" (Goldy 2017).
- Perry, Barbara; Mirrlees, Tanner; Scrivens, Ryan (27 February 2019). "The Dangers of Porous Borders". Journal of Hate Studies. 14 (1). Gonzaga University: 61. doi:10.33972/jhs.124. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
Far-right Canadian media outlets, for instance, have bombarded its subscribers with all kinds of pro-Trump, racist and xenophobic dialogue, both before and after Trump's victory. Rebel Media, a popular far-right online media platform run by Ezra Levant, a controversial Canadian far-right political activist, writer and broadcaster, has been an outright supporter of Trump, publishing countless extreme-right leaning articles on why to support him.
- Gilligan, Andrew (5 August 2018). "Tommy Robinson winds up bigots and the cash floods in". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
All four, including Robinson himself, were employees of The Rebel Media, a Toronto-based far-right website
- Scott, Mark (16 May 2017). "U.S. Far-Right Activists Promote Hacking Attack Against Macron". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- Craig, Sean (19 August 2017). "A fight over a four-bedroom house: The Rebel Media meltdown and the full recording at the centre of the controversy". Global News. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- Perry, Barbara; Scrivens, Ryan (19 August 2019). Right-Wing Extremism in Canada. Springer International. p. 37. ISBN 978-3-030-25169-7. Retrieved 21 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Houpt, Simon (15 August 2017). "Rebel Media co-founder quits over company's perceived ties to right-wing groups". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ "Inside Rebel Media: How Ezra Levant built an extreme media juggernaut | National Post". nationalpost.com.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Titley, Gavan (2 July 2020). "The distribution of nationalist and racist discourse" (PDF). Journal of Multicultural Discourses. 15 (3). Taylor & Francis: 7. doi:10.1080/17447143.2020.1780245. S2CID 221521303.
- ^ Perry, Barbara; Mirrlees, Tanner; Scrivens, Ryan (27 February 2019). "The Dangers of Porous Borders". Journal of Hate Studies. 14 (1). Gonzaga University: 61. doi:10.33972/jhs.124.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Laceywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Brean, Joseph (2014-11-28). "Ezra Levant loses libel case, must pay $80,000 to man he defamed as 'illiberal Islamic fascist'". National Post. Retrieved 2022-05-21.