The Economist published an interview with Ben Shapiro today which is timed to the release of his new book (which is currenty #1 on the NYT bestsellers list). The interview itself is fine but for some reason, the Economist decided to frame Shapiro as “alt-right.” Dave Rubin screencapped the original headline:

It wasn’t just the headline, the brief introduction of the piece also referred to Shapiro as alt-right. Shapiro was understandably angry:

.@TheEconomist, this is a vile lie. Not only am I not alt-right, I am probably their leading critic on the right. I was the number one target of their hate in 2016 online according to ADL data. I demand a retraction. https://t.co/5p2ClA0mby

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 28, 2019

Here was my podcast the day after Charlottesville in which I analyze and savage the disgusting alt-right: https://t.co/fLVBotkkNV

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 28, 2019

A Senior Editor for the Economist tried to, um, explain but Shapiro wasn’t having it:

In fairness, your headline literally reads "the alt-right sage without the rage." So spare me the "in fairness" bulls***. https://t.co/VSMWdj7eKL

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 28, 2019

In other words, if you label me alt-right, f*** you and f*** the horse you rode in on.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 28, 2019

If you lump me in with people who are so evil I literally hire security to walk me to shul on Shabbat, you can go straight to hell.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 28, 2019

Plenty of other folks got in on the criticism as well:

What an idiotic take by @TheEconomist — John Brennan will be running Trump's 2020 campaign before @benshapiro is part of the "alt-right."

— Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) March 28, 2019

Editors at @TheEconomist will want to correct this. There has been an almost comical mistake — because @benshapiro is a consistent TARGET of the alt-Right. He is a hate-figure for them. Associating him with the alt-Right is like associating Churchill's London with the Lufwaffe. https://t.co/BkeR9TnAna

— Jay Nordlinger (@jaynordlinger) March 28, 2019

Yes, the orthodox Jewish guy who was the target of the vast majority of the alt-right’s harassment in 2016 is a total alt-right darling.

— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) March 28, 2019

Calling @benshapiro — a traditional conservative & Orthodox Jew who has been subject to anti-Semitic attacks for criticizing Trump — as "alt-right," is a good indication you should not be writing about conservatism https://t.co/aPmsLfi7Z3

— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) March 28, 2019

Are you serious? @benshapiro is the “alt-right”? If you listen to his show even occasionally, you would hear him criticize the alt-right.

This is especially disappointing coming from The Economist. I used to think more highly of this newspaper. https://t.co/wPKhn1FKzW

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 28, 2019

Even CNN’s Oliver Darcy agreed this was BS:

Calling @benshapiro a "pop idol of the alt-right" is, regardless of your opinions on Shapiro, just incorrect. The alt-right… does not like Shapiro. He's been one of the leading critics of the movement from the right. https://t.co/W4aXMM3TVh

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 28, 2019

The good news is that after being ratioed into the stratosphere, the Economist corrected the headline and the story.

.@TheEconomist has now changed their headline — now I'm a "radical conservative." At least that's defensible. Here's their correction and apology. pic.twitter.com/oGxv6iXuq1

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 28, 2019

I’ll just add my two cents. I’m not personal friends with Ben but I did work with him and I’ve followed him on Twitter for a long time. He is not now and never has been alt-right. I’ve seen him get attacked by the alt-right many times. The Economist made a really absurd choice by labeling him that way and that’s a shame because the interview itself was pretty good. At least they corrected it and apologized which is something.

Update: The Babylon Bee satire site nails it:

The Economist Apologizes After Labeling Ben Shapiro 'Alt-Right' Instead Of 'Filthy Nazi'https://t.co/C8IUZqnbvu

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) March 28, 2019