Ezra Levant

Ezra Levant
Levant in 2008
Born
Ezra Isaac Levant

(1972-02-20) February 20, 1972 (age 52)
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Political commentator
  • columnist
  • lawyer
Known for
Notable workEthical Oil
Political party
Awards

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 The complaint against Levant was ultimately withdrawn.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]

  1. ^ "Why demonize the Rebel for daring to criticize 'political Islam'?". National Post. September 2017.
  2. ^ "Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands". nbbaward.com.
  3. ^ "Ezra Levant". The Governor General of Canada.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Inside Rebel Media: How Ezra Levant built an extreme media juggernaut | National Post". nationalpost.com.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lacey was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ 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.