(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Notorious conservative content-poacher Benny Johnson was called out once again for his alleged plagiarism.
But after allegedly trying to pass off the work of independent investigative reporter Catherine Herridge as his own, the viral-video podcaster may have tussled with the wrong victim.
Herridge has been at the forefront of reporting on recent stories like the Eric Swalwell sex scandal and the release of documents confirming that President Donald Trump’s first impeachment was a full-fledged Democratic hoax.
But the veteran journalist was forced to take time out of her busy investigative work to chide Johnson for lifting her work with no credit or linkbacks, instead trying to pass it off and monetize it as his own.
“STOP letting your team hijack another creator’s content to monetize it on your behalf @bennyjohnson with no credit,” she wrote. “A lot of hard work and $$$ goes into producing our investigations and reports.”
It’s simple.
STOP letting your team hijack another creator’s content to monetize it on your behalf @bennyjohnson with no credit.
A lot of hard work and $$$ goes into producing our investigations and reports.
Two hours after your post and being called out, your team replies… https://t.co/ydaMkFNpft
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) April 17, 2026
Johnson appears subsequently to have apologized for reposting a video of Herridge’s recent interview with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. His post has since been removed.
However, many pointed out in response that it was far from a one-off mistake, tying into a pattern of predatory behavior in which Johnson, rather than helping to amplify smaller accounts, simply steals their scoops.
Benny Johnson has always been a content thieving douchebag. I’ve been calling him out for years. Glad to see more people noticing. pic.twitter.com/O5Nra1Z6Z3
— Jon Herold (@patel_patriot) April 17, 2026
Megan Basham, another conservative influencer and reporter for the Daily Wire, chimed in that content-poaching was something of a systemic issue that needed to be addressed.
“I appreciate when people have shared my investigative work and I want to get it out there, but it is frustrating when they borrow my material and either do not credit me or do a ‘hat tip’ while using my records instead of just quote tweeting it,” she wrote.
Really glad Catherine said something about this issue. I appreciate when people have shared my investigative work and I want to get it out there, but it is frustrating when they borrow my material and either do not credit me or do a “hat tip” while using my records instead of… https://t.co/JEeOx3f7dB
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) April 17, 2026
Headline USA has seen its content poached in the past — both by Johnson, who used documents related to would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh, and by Daily Wire star Matt Walsh, who used a watermarked screenshot of the Iryna Zarutska murder without crediting it to the site.
Benny, did you just take my screenshot and scribble some highlights on it? I paid for that document on PACER.
And do you know what "BREAKING" means? https://t.co/H5Tz1APSEX pic.twitter.com/NP4sFjcPpM— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) April 8, 2025
Johnson has faced blowback in the past for his plagiarism, including a lawsuit last year by content creator Billy Bowling, who alleged that “The Benny Show” had stolen his video of flood damage from Hurricane Helene.
Benny Johnson’s show is being sued for allegedly stealing someone’s workhttps://t.co/2aTx3nuhyh
— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) August 13, 2025
He subsequently settled the case for an undisclosed amount.
Johnson notably was fired by the site BuzzFeed in 2014 after it detected 41 instances of “sentences or phrases copied word for word from other sites” among the 500 stories he had written.
To the writers who were not properly attributed and anyone who ever read my byline, I am sincerely sorry. http://t.co/WpkZIi4g9k
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 26, 2014
Johnson went on to bounce around several different media outlets before striking out on his own. He was again fired by the Independent Journal Review in December 2017 amid allegations of shoddy reporting and plagiarism.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
