Ex-Blaze Employee Sues Over Claims That Ex-Host Elijah Schaffer’s Sexist, Drunken Behavior Got Her Fired

Another former employee of The Blaze, the conservative, subscription-based network founded by Glenn Beck and based in Irving, has come forward with claims about one of its most popular ex-hosts, Elijah Schaffer. Sydney Watson says Schaffer openly criticized and berated her using misogynistic and sexist language and routinely booked guests to repeat the behavior.

The conservative commentator filed her lawsuit in early February in federal court against The Blaze. Watson alleges that after months of complaining to the network’s operators about Schaffer’s behavior, they eventually fired her. She responded with a lawsuit seeking “all remedies” for sex and religious discrimination and wrongful termination under state and federal statutes, according to court records.

Watson is the second former host from The Blaze to come forward with accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior against Schaffer. Last year, ex-host Sara Gonzales told the company that Schaffer groped her breasts without consent during the premiere of a documentary in August, and the company conducted an investigation into the matter that ended with Schaffer’s termination. Watson, however, says in her lawsuit that the company knew of Schaffer’s inappropriate behavior toward her but did not take appropriate actions to stop it.

“The Blaze instead opted to cater to the demands, tantrums and misbehavior of another young rising star, a male one who — long after Ms. Watson had been terminated for complaining and demanding justice — was finally fired based on allegations that he physically assaulted and manhandled at least one other female The Blaze employee,” according to Watson’s lawsuit.

Watson worked with Schaffer at The Blaze as hosts of the internet interview series You Are Here for 10 months in 2021–2022, a job she accepted after finding fame on YouTube as a conservative commentator and receiving a multiyear offer from the network worth over $1.2 million, “most of which Ms. Watson will not be paid because of The Blaze’s misconduct,” according to the lawsuit.

She describes herself on Twitter as “a right-wing Australian with opinions on politics, feminism and men’s rights.” She’s also a commentator on Newsweek’s website. One of her most recent columns was about her experience on a flight sitting between two obese people, which went viral for her opinions about “the acceptance of rampant obesity” and how “pointing out obesity as unhealthy isn’t bigotry, it is reality.”

Three months into Watson’s tenure at The Blaze, Schaffer became “increasingly aggressive” and veered toward “outright misogyny” on their show, according to the suit. Schaffer booked noted white nationalist Nick Fuentes as a guest, and he and Schaffer expressed misogynistic views. Watson says this interview started a trend of booking similar guests with hateful views toward women so that Schaffer could put down Watson and other female staff members on air. Schaffer and several guests would also ridicule Watson’s atheism, according to the lawsuit.

It became clear to her that “she was to be the designated punching bag for the sexist guests and for Mr. Schaffer himself,” the complaint reads.

Watson says she repeatedly filed complaints with the company’s leaders, but Schaffer’s behavior would not change. His awful behavior became “a running gag” with the show’s audience who would leave “coded dog whistles” for misogynistic and anti-Semitic comments in each episode’s online chatroom. It also didn’t help that Schaffer would drink before shows and even with guests, the lawsuit claims.

“She was so disturbed and stressed by Mr. Schaffer’s conduct that she experienced significant vertigo,” the complaint reads. “She had to sit out of a number of shows because of it.”

Three months after Watson complained about the inappropriate behavior, the company held a two-hour meeting attended by The Blaze President Gaston Mooney. Watson made it clear how Schaffer’s “constant sexism and hostile, unprofessional behavior” made her feel humiliated and unable to do her job. Managers promised they would address these issues but took no further action, the suit claims, “despite knowing of the hostile work environment and harassment.”

“He was abusive and sexist to other women at The Blaze as well,” the lawsuit says. “Ms. Watson is informed and believes that other women also complained to management about him to no avail.”

The only action that The Blaze management seemed to take against Schaffer was to ask Watson to do it for them.

“Mr. Schaffer would endlessly reference sex, often specifically gay sex, and discuss penises, among other sexual matters (often graphically) in front of the guests and Ms. Watson,” the lawsuit alleges. “[The Blaze CEO] Tyler Cardon even asked Ms. Watson to ‘get Mr. Schaffer to stop talking about dicks so much.'”

Last July, The Blaze fired Watson after another complaint she made about Schaffer through her attorneys. The company announced Watson’s departure in September.

Watson posted a public statement on her YouTube channel thanking her followers for their support. She struggled with depression and considered deleting all of her online channels because she didn’t “want to be associated or close to some people and things that exist in my industry and the political world in general” but decided to plow ahead with her career. 

“I’m back on the horse,” she says in her video. “I wanna be back on this horse and I want to make awesome content about all sorts of things.”

Attempts were made to reach a representative of The Blaze for comment on Watson’s lawsuit but our messages were not returned.

Beck, however, defended Schaffer on his network in January 2021 after learning that CNN had started an investigation into Schaffer’s behavior and actions following a story about Schaffer being present at Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Big Tech, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and MSM are trying to destroy BlazeTV reporter @ElijahSchaffer for DOING HIS JOB and documenting the Capitol riots. This is what BlazeTV was built for. I stand behind Elijah. pic.twitter.com/AuTHwoTjz2

— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) January 8, 2021

“They are gonna go into everything about him, and I have confidence that he is fine,” Beck says. “If he said something when he was 12, I don’t really give a flying f. I don’t care. I don’t care. I care who a man is today. I want you to know I will never fire Elijah Schaffer because Elijah Schaffer doesn’t work for me. He works for The Blaze. I’m the founder of The Blaze. I’m not controlling The Blaze. I have nothing to do with The Blaze  but I will tell you this. The phone call I got was from Blaze Media. They’re not going to fire him.

“We believe an attack on one is an attack on all,” Beck continued, “and we stand behind Elijah Schaffer.”