Akademiks signs with controversial streaming platform Rumble

Popular hip-hop media personality DJ Akademiks has signed an exclusive streaming deal with Rumble, a site that brands itself as “immune to cancel culture”; hosts right-wing figures such as Dinesh D’Souza, Dan Bongino, and Sean Hannity, as well as the Donald Trump-owned platform Truth Social; and is funded in part by tech billionaire Peter Thiel and Republican Ohio senator J.D. Vance. Per a press release from the company, Akademiks will “livestream exclusively on Rumble three to five days a week.” The announcement was first reported on by Yahoo! Finance.

“I look forward to being one of the first to bring music and cultural conversations to a platform like Rumble,” Akademiks is quoted as saying in Rumble’s release. “There have been many bad decisions at larger platforms where they haven’t put creators first and they are disconnected to the community. I feel now is an inflection point for streaming platforms. I couldn’t be more excited to lead this effort on a platform that puts creators first.”

News of Akademiks’ deal with Rumble follows controversy over a photo he posted to his personal Instagram page that showed him posing with ex-president Trump at UFC 287 in Miami, captioned, “Might have to take up Uncle Trump on his offer of being His Vice President 2024. Bruh told me ’no way you’d be worse than Kamala’ 🤣🤣🤣.”

On Monday (April 10), MSNBC’s Ja’han Jones published a piece titled “The Black culture platforms that push right-wing extremism.” The story links back to a blog post Jones wrote in early 2022 calling out The Shade Room, Media Take Out, and WorldStarHipHop for their promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories, updating that story with a new, damning report from Media Matters on “No Jumper,” the podcast empire founded by Adam John Grandmaison a.k.a. Adam22.

“Over the past year, No Jumper has delved into platforming viral hate figures, including white nationalists, neo-Nazis, misogynists, and notorious antisemites,” reads a segment of the Media Matters report included in Jones’ new article. “Grandmaison, who is white, now invites white supremacists and racists onto a show that has many Black staff members and was born out of covering hip-hop and Black culture. This transitional period for the podcast comes at a time when Grandmaison faces criticism for reports of past predatory behavior.”