Mehdi Hasan at the Zeteo desk. (Courtesy of Zeteo)
Mehdi Hasan wasn’t about to hang around. The progressive firebrand had just wrapped an explosive Jubilee debate on YouTube with a panel of MAGA radicals that quickly went off the rails—one opponent proudly identified himself as a fascist, while another sneered that Hasan should "get the hell out" of the country altogether. The atmosphere grew so hostile that Hasan, a veteran of countless contentious on-air clashes, felt genuinely unsettled.
"I got the hell out of there," Hasan told me. "I did take security with me and I did feel very uncomfortable at the end of that show—so I did get the hell out of there."
The footage spread like wildfire online, drawing tens of millions of views across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. But as astonishing as the exchanges were, they were quintessential Hasan. For years, the broadcaster, always armed to the teeth with rapid-fire facts that are deployed in an unflinching style, has built a reputation for dismantling ideological opponents in highly public fashion.
That viral, fact-driven combativeness helped propel Hasan to stardom—and ultimately paved the way for the 46‑year‑old to strike out on his own. In April of last year, fresh off his departure from MSNBC, Hasan launched Zeteo, an independent media venture built on Substack. At the time, skeptics questioned whether his audience would follow him beyond cable news. Fifteen months later, the answer is clear: Zeteo has become a breakout hit.
The outlet now reaches 450,000 people through its email list and this week topped 50,000 paying subscribers, Hasan revealed to Status for the first time. At $12 a month or $72 a year, those subscriber numbers translate into…
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