Why Apple Removed Glenn Beck’s 3,000 Podcast Episodes
By Movieguide® Contributor
Glenn Beck, popular American conservative commentator, radio host, television producer and entrepreneur, discovered that Apple unexpectedly removed his show from its podcast platform last Wednesday.
3,000 episodes of “The Glenn Beck Program” were removed.
“All of my podcasts have been removed from Apple/iTunes with no explanation,” Beck posted to X. “Apple sent a message that said, ‘We found an issue with your show, “The Glenn Beck Program,” which must be resolved before it’s available on Apple Podcasts. Your show has been removed from Apple Podcasts.’”
Beck added that Apple “sent us a link and said, ‘For more details, go to the link.’ And the link only says, ‘Your show has been removed from Apple Podcasts.’ Well, we got that one, dummy.”
“I cannot imagine what they are… basing this one on,” he added in disbelief. “This is crazy, crazy…There’s nothing that we have said that would warrant any removal.”
Some thought it could have been a technical issue.
Daniel J. Lewis, a Christian entrepreneur in the podcast industry, wrote, “Hello! I’m not from @ApplePodcasts but I’ve been helping podcasters for years. And I think this is truly a technical problem, not censorship. I see that your RSS feed is https://feeds.megaphone.fm/BMDC3567910388 That feed is more than 11 MB! That’s so big I’m surprised it hasn’t failed in Apple Podcasts before now! Or maybe it did and they simply hadn’t done anything about it until now.”
All 3,000 episodes have since been restored, Beck shared, but controversy continues to surround why they were removed in the first place.
Apple told Variety, “‘The Glenn Beck Program’ was removed from Apple Podcasts because of a trademark dispute involving Beck’s podcast and that the issue has since been resolved. The Apple rep declined to provide details on what the trademark dispute was about.”
However, Apple Insider reported, “While Beck hinted that it was somehow election interference, others noted a likely technical reason for the removal. With over 3,000 episodes, the RSS feed for the series is over 11 megabytes where Apple has previously flagged ones that exceed just 5MB. It was most likely, then, that there was an automatic cutoff size that the series hit, triggering a removal.”
Apple Insider added, “Beck also noted that Apple didn’t warn him that the program violated any of its content policies, and that his show didn’t have any strikes against it. Other similar programs like Bill O’Reilly’s show, and Charlie Kirk aren’t impacted — and both have notably smaller RSS feeds.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Beck:
Since the U.S. military withdrawal in Afghanistan, radio show host Glenn Beck has helped refugees and persecuted Christians flee the now Taliban-controlled country.
In a recent announcement, Beck said he is in direct correspondence with the prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.
Beck said that almost 100 refugees were successfully flown out of Mazar-i-Sharif airport in northern Afghanistan in a recent evacuation effort led by Kahn.
“Prime Minister Khan’s tireless leadership, supported by the military and civilian resources of Pakistan and their ability to cooperate with the Taliban, has enabled the first of [two] flights to depart Mazar-i-Sharif with FIFA female athletes and their families on board, in keeping with their unequivocal pledge to allow civilian allies of NATO forces to depart safely if they wished to,” Beck said.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
