Puck <\/em>article<\/a> detailing his association with Arsenal, and he has denied any formal employment with the company following its publication.<\/p>\nResponding to a request for comment from The Verge <\/em>on Tuesday, a Johnson spokesperson credited him with, \u201ccasting the vision for what the company could become\u201d and said, \u201cIt\u2019s probably true that Arsenal wouldn\u2019t have come into being without Benny\u2019s input early on in the company\u2019s formation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t been screamed at like that since I was probably seven years old\u201d<\/q><\/aside>\n<\/div>\nStill, the spokesperson insisted there was no formal relationship between Johnson and Arsenal, saying, \u201cHe is not currently, nor has ever been an owner, executive, or even employee of Arsenal Media.\u201d Cole put it even more starkly, saying Johnson began as a contractor and had not been involved with the company\u2019s operations in over a year.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s reason to think these statements may be understating Johnson\u2019s role with Arsenal, at least as of this year. Workers told The Verge <\/em>that, as recently as January, Johnson had both referred clients to the company and led creative work under the company\u2019s name.<\/p>\nThe confusion is particularly strange given the outsized role Johnson appears to have played in office life. Former employees describe Johnson bullying or humiliating staffers if video shoots or client work didn\u2019t go as planned, often on the company\u2019s internal Telegram chats. <\/p>\n
Johnson can be \u201cvery abusive, very toxic, screaming at people, like using profanity, vulgarity, making women cry, like pushing them to the edge,\u201d one former worker said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t been screamed at like that since I was probably seven years old on the playground.\u201d<\/p>\n
In one incident, a source told The Verge<\/em> that Johnson screamed at a female employee over the phone as she was boarding a flight to Las Vegas in September 2020 to attend a video shoot. Johnson\u2019s issue with the employee is unclear, but he allegedly demanded that the staffer apologize to himself, his wife, and his newborn daughter. The staffer in question did not comment on the matter.<\/p>\n\u201cBenny can be a tough director, there\u2019s no question,\u201d a Johnson spokesperson said when confronted with the claims. \u201cThat level of stress isn\u2019t for everyone, but it\u2019s also what has helped make Benny successful.\u201d Neither Johnson nor Cole confirmed or denied the September 2020 phone call to the female staffer.<\/p>\n
Still, the pressures have led the company to shed staff just as the midterm election cycle is heating up. The Verge <\/em>confirmed that three employees have <\/strong>left Arsenal over the last two weeks, although the specific reasons for the departure are unclear.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, contractors like Slater are still struggling to get paid. Earlier this year, Slater obtained a writ of execution against Cole, allowing law enforcement officials to seize payment for his debt \u2014 but Arsenal does not publicly disclose either the company or Cole\u2019s accurate address, so the request has yet to be executed, Slater says.<\/p>\n
According to Arsenal\u2019s website, the company is currently hiring a graphic designer, among other roles. And applicants like Slater are still drawn to the image the company creates. <\/p>\n
\u201cArsenal got the content production and content delivery aspect of the ad game. They nailed that,\u201d one former employee said. \u201cBut they really, really fucked up the politics of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/20\/23033650\/arsenal-media-group-campaign-marketing-firm-madison-cawthorn-kari-lake-benny-johnson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: In the breathless world of conservative online politics, Arsenal Media is here to help you go viral. Co-founded by gadfly meme enthusiast Benny Johnson, the firm lists clients like Rep. Madison Cawthorn and Dana Loesch and takes credit for more than doubling Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Facebook following. Most enticing, it seems to offer a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n
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