Steven Crowder Is Under Fire After Recreating George Floyd's Final Moments By Getting Himself Kneeled On

Conservative political commentator Steven Crowder has found himself in the center of a backlash after he recreated George Floyd's final moments in an episode of his YouTube show. The video, in which a man dressed as a police officer kneels on Crowder's neck for nine minutes, got labeled "tasteless" and "ghoulish" by social media users, as well as not entirely accurate.

On Wednesday, in an episode of his YouTube show, Crowder lied down on concrete ground as his producer and another man, both dressed as police officers knelt down on his shoulders and his legs and pinned him down for nine minutes.

Today I am going to test the theory and have my producer (and @GmorganJr) kneel on my neck for 9 minutes, live on concrete. No tricks, no cuts. We need to walk a mile in another’s shoes… 10AM ET. #LwC

— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) April 7, 2021

Crowder's video comes in as the court trial over police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of George Floyd entered its nine day. In the video, Crowder, with his hands cuffed behind his back, comments as he is being pressed into the ground, unable to move.

"I don't expect this to be pleasant, but I think that people need to see what it's like with the closest controlled conditions we can recreate."

The video, which currently sits at over one million views on YouTube, immediately prompted angry reactions on social media, with users describing it as "tasteless" and "twisted," with some also accusing Crowder of racism.

what a fucking ghoul pic.twitter.com/uLYZkOMgC0

— shoe (@shoe0nhead) April 7, 2021

Beyond being one of the most tasteless routines he's ever done Steven Crowder couldn't even tolerate a few minutes of his friend kneeling on his neck before he said it still counts if he moved it to his back.

How is this still on YouTube? pic.twitter.com/HK36RryQaL

— The Serfs (@theserfstv) April 8, 2021

I understand the people saying the circumstances of this experiment aren't comparable to what happened to Floyd (pressure & positioning of the knee).

I understand the people saying this is insensitive.

I don't understand the people saying this is racist. https://t.co/2pcxEtpAMk

— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) April 8, 2021

While Crowder's producer spent several minutes with his leg positioned over his neck, some users noted that he didn't apply as much pressure on Crowder as Chauvin did on Floyd.

wow totally the same! No dishonesty or anything at all! pic.twitter.com/EcRsraWFFG

— Viathan (@VermilionViath) April 7, 2021

Crowder’s “recreation” versus the way it was done on George Floyd. Steven you fucking pussy. https://t.co/q2S5IAxzuD pic.twitter.com/g7gHeDQx56

— Andres Esteller (@CriticalReader7) April 7, 2021

In March, YouTube indefinitely removed Crowder's main channel with 5.4 million subscribers from its Partner Program, meaning that the commentator no longer has the ability of monetizing it by running ads.