What does the future hold for Parler after Big Tech blacklist?
CEO John Matze joins 'Hannity' to give an update on what's next for the social media platform
Parler CEO John Matze was terminated by the company’s board of directors last week in a decision the social media platform hoped to keep private — until Fox News obtained on Wednesday a memo he sent to employees explaining why he was terminated.
However, Fox News contributor and Parler co-owner Dan Bongino doesn’t see eye to eye with Matze’s version of the ousting.
"It’s time to correct the record, the Parler CEO John Matze, he was terminated, by the board of Parler, but the story you’re hearing, unfortunately, is not correct," Bongino said of a letter Matze sent to Parler staffers that was first obtained by Fox News.
PARLER CEO JOHN MATZE SAYS HE’S BEEN TERMINATED BY BOARD: ‘I DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS DECISION’
Matze noted "the Parler board controlled by Rebekah Mercer decided to immediately terminate my position as CEO," and that he "did not participate in this decision."
Matze wrote that over the past few months he has been met with "constant resistance" to his original vision for the social media platform following Amazon Web Services' decision to shut Parler down for failure to moderate "egregious content" related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
"Over the past few months, I’ve met constant resistance to my product vision, my strong belief in free speech and my view of how the Parler site should be managed. For example, I advocated for more product stability and what I believe is a more effective approach to content moderation," Matze wrote.
Parler did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Bongino didn’t agree with Matze’s narrative and took to Facebook to record a video detailing his side of the story.
"Here’s the real story, so you have it and don’t believe the hype," Bongino said, noting that Matze paints himself as a free speech advocate.
"Folks, that’s not accurate, those are his statements not mine. I have no personal gripe against John, the CEO, at all, I want to be crystal clear, but John decided to make this public, not us, we were handling it like gentlemen," Bongino said.
"We were the ones, in fact, fighting to get Parler back up. There was some really bad decisions made from people on the inside, and listen, this isn’t us airing dirty laundry. This is protecting a company that is absolutely committed to free speech, that I put the last year of my life into. Do you actually believe that someone else was on the side of free speech?"
PARLER CEO: 'NO INDICATION' BIG TECH SHTUDOWN THREATS WERE 'DEADLY SERIOUS' UNTIL LAST MINUTE
Parler, a social media app that was widely embraced by Trump supporters because it favored free speech, saw a spike in users following Twitter’s permanent suspension of President Trump. But the site has been down since Amazon Web Services cut it off and was expected to relaunch before the beginning of February but things were delayed.
A Parler insider told Fox News the delay was caused by new branding and changes occurring within the company for the sake of stability.
Parler terminated CEO John Matze.
Matze recently emerged as a go-to guest of conservative media amid the chaos surrounding his company being taken offline by Amazon, making regular cable news appearances to defend free speech.
However, Bongino said there were "two separate visions for the company" and the "free speech vision" originated from Bongino and other owners of the company. Bongino repeatedly claimed throughout the video that Matze’s version of events isn’t accurate.
"I’m really pissed off right now," Bongino said. "The relationship with Parler and the CEO did not work out because the CEO’s vision was not ours. Everybody clear on that? Our vision was crystal clear. We needed to get up and fight back, some terrible decisions were made in the past, that led us to getting put down by Amazon and others."
In addition to Amazon, Google and Apple have both suspended Parler from their respective app stores.
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Bongino said Parler could have already been back up and running if it caved to Silicon Valley who wanted it so heavily moderated that it would have been "to the left" of Twitter.
"That’s not what we’re gonna do. We don’t want garbage on our site, either, and we took the proper steps to do that. But we’re a free speech site and will remain as such," Bongino said.
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