It took several weeks before Dillon agreed to Newsweek's interview. Misinformation accusationsīut Dillon complains that some mainstream outlets appear to ignore that the Babylon Bee is satirical, instead complaining that it is a purveyor of misinformation – not least for its mockery of COVID measures introduced in the name of saving lives.ĭillon has little time for the mainstream media and was angered by what he saw as a negative profile of the Babylon Bee in one major outlet, saying it had not reached out to him. Dillon expects to grow revenue 50% this year to $12 million. Plus, it sells subscriptions to the site, which buys users exclusive content, including the ability to pitch headlines to Babylon Bee staff. It has also launched a genuine news site dubbed Not the Bee and in Texas later this month it will host its first live event.
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Courtesy of the Babylon Beeĭillon says the company has grown to 40 staffers and is profitable after generating about $8 million in revenue largely through advertising last year (he won't say who his biggest advertisers are) plus its books (the most popular being The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness). Seth Dillon, owner of the Babylon Bee, speaks at a recent pro-life event.
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Taking aim at venues demanding vaccination status, it carried a report that a "vaccine passport can now be tattooed on your hand or forehead." A man in Italy later had his QR code tattooed on his arm, sharing the image on social media.Ī parody headline on "genderless" LEGO bricks appeared months before LEGO said it was ridding itself of "gender bias and harmful stereotypes." Then there was its spoof report on Mattel's new "pregnant Ken doll" weeks before the company revealed a transgender Barbie.ĭillon identifies as a Christian conservative and acknowledges that the Babylon Bee reflects his values, distinguishing it from The Onion, a big competitor in the parody news industry. Its targets run the gamut of causes with appeal to conservatives – poking fun at COVID vaccinations and protocols, transgender rights, race, environmentalism.Ī story that got it banned from Twitter - before Musk took over the platform and allowed it back - was branded "not funny" and "dangerous" by Twitter's former safety chief Yoel Roth, voicing a view of the site shared by many of its detractors.Īmong the examples Dillon points to of fake news that had echoes in reality was its picture of a Sesame Street 'Vaccinate me Elmo' doll, complete with syringe, months before Sesame Workshop announced that Elmo had been vaccinated against COVID. He shared a spreadsheet with 85 examples of its faux news being borne out – at least to some extent – by what later happened.
In a Newsweek interview, Dillon spoke of a "moral purpose" to the Babylon Bee's humor, and added: "When our jokes come true, the problem isn't that satire is too close to reality it's that reality is too close to satire." The rise of the Babylon Bee, which styles itself as "the definitive source of fake news you can trust", has mirrored that of other strident new conservative publications with a mission to deride and undermine progressive views in the polarized nation.
It is one of scores of examples that Babylon Bee owner Seth Dillon holds up in which its mockery of a section of American society hit close to home as the publication carves out a growing following – including Elon Musk - while infuriating those who have branded its comedy as dangerous right-wing misinformation. Two years ago, the conservative satire website Babylon Bee published the headline "Triple-masker looks down on people who only double mask." A day later, CNBC featured a graphic highlighting the higher efficacy of triple-masking.
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