Hasan Piker revealed during a recent stream that CBS approached him for an on-air debate with Ben Shapiro. He says he turned it down.
According to Hasan, the network wanted the debate focused on capitalism. He wanted to talk about Israel-Palestine instead. When CBS wouldn’t budge on the topic, he declined the offer. “They wanted it to be about capitalism instead of Israel & Palestine,” Hasan said on stream. “I was like ehh, that’s boring.”
The debate never happened. Hasan is the only public source for this story so far. Neither CBS nor Shapiro have confirmed the proposed debate or commented on his account.
Hasan has spent over a year covering the Israel-Palestine conflict extensively on his Twitch channel. He’s become one of the most vocal pro-Palestinian voices in online political media since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza.
A capitalism debate would have put Hasan’s socialist politics front and center. It’s a topic he discusses regularly on stream, but apparently not one he felt urgent enough for a mainstream TV appearance.
Why CBS might have preferred capitalism
A capitalism-focused debate would likely feel safer for a broadcast network. It’s an evergreen topic without the immediate sensitivities of an active armed conflict.
Israel-Palestine carries significant editorial and advertising considerations for mainstream TV. The topic has proven divisive across American audiences and could present challenges for a network trying to maintain broad appeal.
For Hasan, the opposite calculation seems to apply. He’s built significant momentum around Gaza coverage and may have viewed a mainstream platform as an opportunity to push that message rather than defend his economic views.
