It takes a special kind of confidence to react publicly to something you clearly do not understand, and that is exactly what Brendan Schaub demonstrated on a recent episode of TFATK.
During the show, Schaub asked his producer to pull up a clip he had come across on social media featuring Joe Rogan and comedian Mark Normand. From a quick scroll through his feed, Schaub believed the pair had been talking about political commentator Candace Owens, and that Owens had posted a reaction video responding to their remarks.
He laid out his understanding of the situation on the show, admitting he had only seen a short portion of the clip. “I was watching, I think it was Mark Normand and Rogan talk about Candace Owens and Candace posted a clip of her like reacting to it,” he said.
That assumption became the foundation of the segment. Schaub framed the moment as uncomfortable to watch, suggesting Owens appeared bothered by what was being said about her.
“It makes you feel bad ’cause you know they’re kind of talking s**t about Candace and she’s just sitting there. You can tell it bothers her. It made me feel weird. I like Candace,” he said.
Co-host Bryan Callen responded by acknowledging Owens’ tendency to make controversial statements while justifying her. “She says some pretty crazy stuff. But I mean, really, so does everybody,” he said.
The problem is that the entire premise was wrong.
Joe Rogan and Mark Normand were not talking about Candace Owens at all. Their conversation was about Erika Kirk, the wife of the late Charlie Kirk. The discussion centered on a conspiracy theory suggesting Erika Kirk had connections to the so-called deep state and may have influenced Charlie Kirk when he began questioning certain geopolitical positions.
Owens, who has been vocal about that theory, had simply shared the Rogan and Normand clip because it aligned with her own position, not because she was the subject of the conversation.
The actual exchange between Rogan and Normand makes that clear.
“Well, she seems thrilled right now,” Normand said, referring to Erica Kirk.
“She’s an odd duck,” Rogan replied, before referencing viral clips circulating online. “You ever seen the compilation of her making crazy eyes? There’s a video of her making demon eyes, and every time she makes the eyes, the music so she’s possessed,” he said.
Normand continued the commentary by pointing to her public persona and past media appearances. “She’s having a good time. Well, she was on a reality show, you know. Yes. So, she’s a star f**ker,” he said.
At no point in that conversation was Candace Owens the subject.
Despite that, the misunderstanding moved forward on TFATK without correction. Viewers in the comment section quickly identified the mistake, pointing out that the hosts were reacting to a situation that did not exist.
What makes the moment particularly notable is not just that Schaub misread the clip, but that no one else stepped in to challenge the assumption. Neither Callen nor the producer corrected the record before the segment aired.
Schaub even offered another observation about Owens’ reaction, saying, “She didn’t really react to what Rogan and Mark was saying about it either. Not really. She just kept it moving.”
But that comment, like the rest of the segment, was built on a misunderstanding of the clip’s context.
