Candace Owens Called 'Pure Trash' by Model for SKIMS Disability Ad Comments

Model Abigail Ratchford is the latest to join in the chorus of people angry at conservative commentator Candace Owens after her comments about a model in a wheelchair.

The model, who has 9.2 million followers on Instagram and almost 2 million on Twitter, described the conservative commentator as "pure trash."

She tweeted her thoughts on Thursday after Owens said using models in a wheelchair was "ridiculous" and taking "inclusivity" too far. Owens made the comments on her Daily Wire podcast, which is also broadcast on her personal YouTube channel where she has more than 1.4 million subscribers.

Ratchford stood up for the disabled models who appeared in a campaign for Kim Kardashian's SKIMS shapewear company, which launched an adaptive range in May 2022. Adaptive shapewear is made for disabled people and those with limited mobility.

"Candace Owens is the human version of leachate. She's pure trash," she tweeted. Leachate is contaminated liquid and a by-product of decomposition in sanitary landfills.

Many of Ratchford's fans appeared to agree with the American model who rose to fame in 2013.

"She is absolutely [...] garbage[...]. News flash, but disabled women also have boobs and vaginas that need to be covered by bras and underwear," replied one fan.

Another added: "She is a opportunist. Any one should see her posts from 2007 , she was the complete opposite of this. Then she realized what she is doing now makes more money."

During her podcast, Owens said of the models in wheelchairs that she doesn't "really understand how far we're going to take this inclusivity thing. We are being ridiculous, America."

"I really don't get it, and if I am wrong educate me," said.

"I don't know why this needs to be done. I'm just getting tired of this all-inclusivity thing. It seems ridiculous."

For Australian podcast host Peta Hooke, when she first heard Owens' remarks she thought the "shock jock" was speaking "to get attention and go viral."

"After all, that is what she gets paid for," the host of I Can't Stand Podcast told Newsweek.

Hooke recently hosted two events at the Melbourne Fashion Festival to raise awareness of disabilities and inclusion. She even led a parade of diverse people to "strip down to our bras and undies to illustrate to the fashion industry that beauty comes in many forms."

She commended the SKIMS adaptive range for being inclusive and because Kardashian "has more significance than most celebrity-backed brands as Kim, herself has defined overall beauty standards for so many years."

For Hooke, Owens crossed a line when she said, "I didn't know, we needed to see that in our face."

"I find this tone really uncomfortable as it indicates to me that Candace believes that there is a hierarchy in society and that disabled people should not be seen," Hooke said.

"Comments, like Candaces, I designed to enrage. They are misrepresenting and discounting the disabled perspective. So from my perspective, they are extremely hurtful and ableist."

Hooke labeled Owens' comments as harmful in the journey to equality that disability advocates had been fighting for over the years.

"For those of us who are disability advocates, we are trying to fully illustrate the realities of living with a disability; making sure we communicate the challenges that we face, and the discrimination that needs to be addressed, while also making sure that we are not pitied by the non-disabled and prove are in fact equal," she said.

"A very challenging message to communicate, to begin with so this sort of rhetoric, going viral, only harms the cause to achieve equality."

Hooke also described Haleigh Rosa, one of the models who featured in the SKIMS ad campaign, as "looking great" in the photo shoot.

Rosa also spoke out against Owens' controversial comments.

"We both studied journalism, but since only one of us seems to have finished our degree. I'm happy to educate you," Rosa said on her TikTok. "This isn't the first nor the last campaign you will see with a wheelchair. We're not only in adaptive campaigns, we're everywhere."

Rosa also described Owens as a "loose cannon" and said her comments were "disgusting."

"I think it's horrifying what she said. It's disgusting and it's setting a really bad example for people that actually do follow her," she told the Mirror newspaper.

"I don't think any body is not worthy of being seen and the fact that she chose my body to talk about how basically unimportant people in wheelchairs are, and the fact that we shouldn't even be shown was disturbing."

Rosa added that Owens' statement was not "setting a good example for people" and was worried how they would impact younger disabled people.

"I mean, I would have no idea of knowing what goes on in that woman's brain. I think that she's a loose cannon that is constantly looking for the next controversy," she said.

Update, 03/27/23, 10:06 a.m. ET: This story was updated to add Peta Hooke's comments.

Update, 03/28/23, 6:20 a.m. ET: This story was updated to add a link to the Mirror website.