Conservative commentator Steven Crowder has filed a lawsuit against CNN and Jubilee over their use of “Change My Mind,” the debate format and slogan he built his career on. The suit also names Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who has appeared in a version of the format produced with CNN and Jubilee, according to Newsweek.
Crowder says “Change My Mind” is a registered trademark tied to his show, dating back to a 2017 concept and a widely circulated 2018 photo of him sitting at a folding table outside Texas Christian University. He had previously threatened legal action against CNN, Jubilee and Talarico before the lawsuit was filed.
“We’re suing. Not just CNN. Jubilee and James Talarico, as well. Change My Mind is a registered trademark. I was rejected by cable news for this exact concept. We took the risk. We paid the cost. Now everyone else swoops in with investors and donors, steals it, and profits.”
On a recent episode of his show, Crowder argued that CNN has falsely presented the format as a unique concept that will transform future town halls.
Whether the lawsuit succeeds will be decided in court. Owning a trademark does not automatically mean every similar phrase or format counts as infringement, and a judge will need to weigh the scope of Crowder’s rights against the specific way CNN and Jubilee used the concept.
The Senate Race Backdrop
Talarico is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, a state Republicans have carried in every statewide election for decades. In 2024, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz won a third term with 53.1 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic challenger Colin Allred by nearly 1 million votes, despite pre-election polling suggesting a closer race.
Talarico has drawn attention, and criticism, for past remarks on religion and policy. In a 2021 Texas House speech opposing legislation on transgender student athletes, he said, “God is nonbinary,” and argued “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between.” He has since called the comments “provocative” and compared his approach to the late Charlie Kirk’s. He has also said “the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion” and has described the biblical Annunciation in terms of “consent.”
Comparisons have been drawn between Talarico’s approach and that of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, whose informal style and occasional breaks with Democratic positions on immigration and Israel have drawn national attention even as voting-record analyses show he votes with his party roughly 80 percent of the time.
The lawsuit adds a legal dimension to a campaign that has already drawn scrutiny over how Talarico presents himself to Texas voters, including those who do not typically back Democratic candidates.
