As fanfare sounds, female sprinters at the starting line eye a man in a wig with suspicion. A large wrestler with a goatee slams a woman half his size onto the mat. An ominous voiceover claims women’s sports are being “trans-formed.” This is not the start of a classic cross-dressing comedy. It is the trailer for “Lady Ballers,” a new right-wing movie that satirically portrays cisgendered men pretending to be women to dominate women’s sports.
At first glance, it might seem like the film is just another example of conservatives repeating the same joke mocking liberal views on gender identity. However, my own research has examined the extensive network of conservative comedy that supports right-wing political initiatives. Now, beyond comedy, U.S. conservatives are using action films, dramas, and even children’s cartoons to create their own alternative entertainment industry, one that is allegedly free from the liberal biases of Hollywood. Two notable recent efforts are streaming platforms from right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro and “Lady Ballers” star Jeremy Boreing. DailyWire+ offers documentaries, Westerns, and faith-based fantasy series.
Its partner streaming platform, Bentkey, launched in October 2023, focuses on children’s programming. While these platforms have a long way to go before they can compete with Netflix and Disney+, they have found success by targeting politically engaged audiences, potentially giving them more longevity than past conservative music and movie ventures. U.S. conservatives have been successful in launching and guiding multiple news outlets, but their record in entertainment, such as feature films and children’s shows, is less consistent. In 2013, former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum became the CEO of EchoLight Studios, producing several faith-based films in the 2010s. Similarly, pundit and documentary filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza has achieved modest box office success with films centered on right-wing conspiracy theories
These efforts saw limited success due to their niche political appeal, which was not well-matched with theatrical movies’ wide distribution. Some conservative entertainment forms have briefly gone viral before fading away, possibly because they are too closely linked to current events to last. Kid Rock’s “We the People” criticized COVID-19 restrictions and “Bidenomics,” while Jason Aldean’s “Try That In a Small Town” attempted to capture conservative resentment toward Black Lives Matter protests but was slightly late for that wave. A notable conservative entertainment success is the 2023 thriller “The Sound of Freedom.” Its unexpected success was due in part to its subject matter—child trafficking, which is particularly appealing to right-wing conspiracists—and its unique financing. Angel Studios, the film’s producer, used an equity crowdfunding model that allowed 100,000 individual investors to have a say in creative and marketing decisions. The movie also implemented a “pay it forward” marketing strategy that encouraged fans to buy tickets for others who shared their views. Although Angel Studios has not disclosed the revenue generated from “pay it forward,” the movie grossed nearly $250 million against a $14.5 million budget.
“The Sound of Freedom” allowed audiences to literally invest in the film’s success, which its marketing campaign linked to rejecting Hollywood’s liberal agenda. This same mindset influenced the launch—and will likely shape the future—of DailyWire+ and Bentkey. Shapiro is a vocal supporter of Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, both of whom are opposed to LGBTQ+ rights and often accuse “woke gender ideology” proponents like Disney of “grooming” children. By late 2022, DailyWire+ surpassed 1 million subscribers with programming that played on cultural war concerns.
Hits on the platform included right-wing commentator Matt Walsh’s anti-trans documentary “What Is A Woman?” and video shorts from PragerU promoting conservative issues in an educational tone. Then there are comedies like “Lady Ballers.” Boreing has emphasized the gap between viewers’ political views and available entertainment options. “[Americans are] tired of spending money on woke media companies that aim to indoctrinate their children with radical race and gender theories,” he told The Washington Post before launching Bentkey. Bentkey seeks to offer a conservative alternative to Disney’s family programming. “Chip Chilla,” for example, is a clear imitation of Disney+’s “Bluey,” a cartoon about a family of Australian dogs. The creators of “Chip Chilla” include former “Saturday Night Live” member turned anti-vaxxer Rob Schneider and Ethan Nicolle, former creative director of the right-wing satire site The Babylon Bee.
The platform also wants to challenge Disney’s influence in the princess genre. Bentkey’s upcoming fantasy film “Snow White and The Evil Queen” stars popular conservative YouTuber Brett Cooper and aims to emphasize the fairy tale’s traditional social values. With media companies facing decreased advertising revenue, DailyWire+ and Bentkey are betting that dedicated, politically active subscribers will fuel their growth. Shapiro’s approach mirrors X’s strategy, which is moving toward a subscription model as chairman Elon Musk’s reckless tweets drive away advertisers. Shapiro made a deal with Musk for X to host The Daily Wire’s podcasts, moving away from YouTube’s ad-supported model. Much like Shapiro, Musk supports DeSantis, with X—formerly Twitter—notoriously hosting the candidate’s problematic campaign launch in May 2023.
With support from these influential right-wing figures, conservative entertainment can engage the Republican base in new ways. Liberals would be wise not to underestimate its potential to unify conservatives ahead of the 2024 election. The late right-wing provocateur Andrew Breitbart, a mentor to Shapiro, famously stated that politics is downstream from culture.