Steven Crowder’s Wife’s Lawsuit: No-Fault Divorce and Defamation

The lawsuit involving Steven Crowder’s wife is the divorce Hilary Crowder filed against him in Denton County, Texas, in December 2021, which became a national story in April 2023 after leaked Ring doorbell footage showed Crowder berating her while she was roughly eight months pregnant with twins.¹² A separate civil case, Hilary Crowder v. Louder with Crowder, LLC, was tried in the same county and reached a Texas appeals court in 2024.³

The Divorce Filing

Hilary Crowder filed for divorce in Denton County, Texas, in December 2021. Reporting on the case indicates Steven Crowder had hired a divorce attorney months earlier and purchased a separate townhouse after the birth of the couple’s twins in August 2021.¹

The proceedings stayed out of public view for more than a year. In April 2023, Crowder announced the divorce on his podcast, acknowledging that Hilary had preferred to keep the matter private.⁴

The Leaked Ring Doorbell Video

Shortly after Crowder’s announcement, journalist Yashar Ali published Ring doorbell footage dated June 26, 2021. It showed Crowder sitting on a sofa while Hilary, then roughly eight months pregnant with twins, stood nearby.²

In the recording, Crowder told Hilary she was not taking the car because she refused “to do wifely things,” complained about being “boxed in,” and told her to “become someone worthy of a wife.” Hilary responded, “I love you, but Steven, your abuse is sick.”² According to a Baptist News analysis, the underlying dispute involved Hilary’s reluctance to administer medication to the couple’s dog while pregnant, out of concern about toxicity to the unborn children.⁵

Hilary’s family released a statement through Ali saying she had “spent years hiding Steven’s mentally and emotionally abusive behavior from her friends and family while she attempted to save their marriage.” The family also asked that Crowder “cease speaking publicly about these personal matters in an untruthful manner.”²

Crowder’s Response and the No-Fault Divorce Question

Crowder did not offer a substantive rebuttal to the recording. On April 28, 2023, he filed a motion to unseal the divorce documents, describing the footage as “misleadingly edited leaks to the tabloid press.”⁶

He also used the divorce to campaign against Texas no-fault divorce laws. On his show he said, “There need to be changes to marital laws… talking about divorce laws, talking about alimony laws, talking about child-support laws.” No-fault divorce allows a marriage to be dissolved without proving wrongdoing by either spouse. Rolling Stone noted that the same system Crowder criticized kept personal conduct evidence out of the proceedings, meaning the leaked video could not be used against him in the division of assets. Under a fault-based system, it could have been.⁷

Hilary Crowder v. Louder with Crowder, LLC

Alongside the divorce itself, a separate civil case was filed between Hilary Crowder and Steven’s media company. Court records list the matter as Hilary Crowder, Appellant v. Louder with Crowder, LLC, Appellee, tried in the 431st District Court of Denton County, Texas, as Case No. 23-9170-431. It was appealed to the Court of Appeals of Texas, Second District, Fort Worth, under docket No. 02-24-00084-CV, and a judgment issued on June 6, 2024.³

The existence of this separate action, brought against the company rather than against Steven personally, points to a dispute involving Louder with Crowder LLC itself. The specific claims and the appellate court’s disposition are not detailed in the available records.

Louder with Crowder as a Marital Asset

The divorce and the LLC dispute have to be read together because the company was a significant marital asset. That framing sharpened when Crowder walked away from a Daily Wire offer worth $50 million over four years, with a potential $25 million renewal, in early 2023.⁸ Crowder rejected the deal over a clause that would have cut his pay if platforms like YouTube demonetized his content, calling it a “slave contract.”⁹ The decision to remain independent while a Texas divorce court weighed the value and division of that same business drew scrutiny.

The Defamation Case Against a Former Producer

Adjacent to the divorce is a defamation lawsuit Crowder filed against his former producer Jared Mittelo, sometimes referred to as Jared Monroe, over text messages Mittelo sent to Crowder’s ex-wife.¹⁰

That case followed an earlier suit Crowder brought against Mittelo alleging violations of non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses in a separation agreement, along with a Rule 202 petition, a pretrial discovery tool under Texas law. Attorney Matt Bruenig then filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB in April 2024 on Mittelo’s behalf, arguing that the separation agreement’s clauses were illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. Crowder withdrew the breach-of-contract suit.¹⁰¹¹¹²

In October 2024, a judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit with prejudice, ruling that it violated the Texas Citizens Participation Act, the state’s anti-SLAPP statute designed to prevent lawsuits intended to silence critics. The court ordered Crowder to pay $43,037 in legal fees to Mittelo and an additional $15,000 in sanctions to deter similar filings. If Crowder appeals and loses, a separate order would make him liable for another $35,750 in legal fees.¹⁰ The NLRB matter, Case No. 10-CA-338918 out of Region 10 in Atlanta, was later listed as closed on the agency’s docket.¹³

The Workplace NDA Episode

The video leak in mid-2023 was followed by workplace misconduct allegations at Louder with Crowder. Former employees described bullying and volatile outbursts, and some accused Crowder of sexual misconduct, including allegedly exposing himself to colleagues and sending sexually explicit photos to subordinates.¹⁴ CEO Gerald Morgan called many of the claims “missing context, clear misrepresentations or outright falsehoods.”¹⁵

On July 26, 2023, staffers were emailed non-disclosure agreements that included a $100,000 liquidated damages clause for any breach, and were given roughly one day to sign. Crowder and Morgan then held a meeting attempting to identify who had leaked information to reporters, offering “amnesty” if anyone confessed by 2 p.m. When nobody came forward, they moved to individual interrogations, and four employees resigned rather than sign.¹⁶

Those NDAs are the same category of agreement whose enforcement the NLRB later challenged in the Mittelo matter, which ties the workplace fallout back to the litigation trail that runs alongside Hilary Crowder’s divorce.

1
Bryan Fagan, PLLC. Useful No-Fault Divorce, Obnoxious Steven Crowder, and a Messy Divorce
2
Yahoo News. Leaked Video Seems to Show YouTuber Steven Crowder Verbally Abusing Wife
3
CaseMine. Hilary Crowder v. Louder with Crowder, LLC
4
Newsweek. Steven Crowder Punishes Pregnant Wife for Not Doing Wifely Things
5
Baptist News Global. On Steven Crowder, Abuse, and the Evangelical Definition of Respect
6
The Daily Beast. Steven Crowder Addresses Allegations of Emotional Abuse, Files Motion to Unseal Divorce Files
7
Rolling Stone. Stephen Crowder Divorce
8
Rolling Stone. Steven Crowder Feuds With Daily Wire Over $50 Million Offer
9
Forbes. Right-Wing Pundits Ben Shapiro and Steven Crowder Clash Over $50 Million Media Deal
10
NLRBEdge. Judge Dismisses Steven Crowder Lawsuit
11
Law360. Right-Wing Personality Hit With Severance Charge at NLRB
12
NLRBEdge. Update on the Steven Crowder Legal Saga
13
NLRB. Case 10-CA-338918
14
New York Post. Steven Crowder Sends Insane NDAs Demanding $100K After Toxic Behavior Leaked
15
Vanity Fair. Steven Crowder Business Troubles
16
Mediaite. Four Steven Crowder Staffers Exit Show After Interrogations and Insane NDAs