Candace Owens revealed that interior designer David Nieto told her husband he would “rather get beaten up in the a** with a plank” than work on their Nashville home.
Conservative commentator Owens said her husband, British businessman George Farmer, wrote “the most polite email” as he approached Neto and complained that his response would be deemed unacceptable if it was sent to a “black liberal”.
She added, “They would have said it was like Jim Crow.”
The mother-of-two, 33, recounted the feud in a lengthy interview with Vanity Fairin which she talks about her position as an outspoken black Republican, Donald Trump, and a possible run for office.
The sentiment sparked controversy at Paris Fashion Week last year when she tweeted a photo of her and Kanye West wearing White Lives Matter T-shirts.
Candace Owens and husband George Farmer at their Nashville home Farmer asked interior designer David Netto if he would work after seeing his designs at a friend’s house
Farmer and Owens are a divisive pair because of the businessman’s running of the “free speech platform” Parler, which is popular with the far right, and Owens’ role as an outspoken black Republican
Interior designer David Neto told Farmer he’d “rather get beaten up in an a** with a plank” than approach the couple
The incident catapulted Owens into the spotlight and preceded the musician’s descent into anti-Semitic outcry on Twitter, which included praise for Hitler.
Owens has been criticized for failing to convict West on her Daily Wire show, which has 1.5 million subscribers and is broadcast as a podcast and on YouTube.
At the fashion show, West introduced her to Farmer, with the rapper subsequently buying the businessman, Parler’s “free speech platform”, popular with the far right.
The site has been banned by Apple, Google and Amazon for allowing hate speech and is popular with Trump supporters, including some who took part in the US Capitol unrest on Wednesday.
Owens spoke about Neto’s hostile reaction after he said she was treated nicely by Nashville locals, and related a positive encounter with Kamala Harris at the airport, which she described as “very nice”.
Owens said she called the vice president, adding, “I can’t help myself. I told her I wasn’t going to vote for her, and she said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ I understand.” It was a very nice conversation.
Neto, who wrote about the design for The New York Times, was approached by her husband, she said, after the couple saw his work at one of their friends’ homes.
“My husband writes the most polite emails because he’s always so polite, and he’s so English,” Owens said. “We didn’t know if we could afford a designer or anything.”
She said that Neto wrote back: “Dear George, thank you for your enquiry. I’d rather get hit in the a** with a plank than be approached by either of you. Kind regards, David.”
Owens suggested that if a “conservative white man” had sent brutal retaliation to an “outspoken black liberal,” he would have lost everything.
Owens was famously shamed after she tweeted a photo of herself and musician Kanye West wearing White Lives Matter T-shirts at Paris Fashion Week last year.
Owens said Nashville locals were mostly nice to her in public, and they had a “very nice conversation” with Vice President Kamala Harris when she bumped into her at the airport.
Owens and Farmer previously met with Donald Trump on several occasions, including at the White House in 2020, before Owens withdrew her support for the former president after he came out in favor of a Covid vaccine.
Neto told Vanity Fair that Owens and Farmer were “in cahoots with something very serious,” referring to Parler’s popularity with some of those involved in the Capitol riot.
Neto told Vanity Fair that he only addressed Farmer and that it was about “morals,” not race. He added, “After January 6th, the joke is over. People like this should expect to be recognized as complicit in something very serious – and I don’t mean Kanye – and expect to be tipped off in polite society.
“Without Parler, the proud boys can’t talk to each other, and that’s enough for me…they’ll find someone to make their house, and I’m sure it’ll be pretty.”
Owens was previously a vocal fan of Trump, but withdrew her support after the Republican candidates he endorsed in the midterm elections failed to win their seats.
She said on her Daily Wire show that she had been suspicious of the former president since he was rude to her after an interview where they clashed over a COVID-19 vaccine.
Owens had earlier blasted Trump — saying he was no longer in touch with his base of support after coming out in favor of a vaccine. She claimed that Trump then turned on her.
But she suggested to Vanity Fair that she has not ruled out his support for the Republican nomination, nor is she running for office.
Owens said she would “like to know who is running in 2024” and “who has the best vision” before deciding who to endorse.
She said she would “never say never” regarding a possible run of her own. She added, “If you had talked to me seven years ago and told me I would vote for Trump, and work for Daily Wire, I would have told you to go easy on the meds.” “So I follow the perspective that we have our plans and God laughs.”
