Last week, Candace Owens devoted three straight episodes of her YouTube show to conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's killing, suggesting a 'decoy' was used and floating the idea that Kirk wasn't shot at all.

The three videos have racked up a combined 3.9 million views, underlining the huge audience for Owens' increasingly outlandish claims about the conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder who hired her in 2017.

In two episodes the week prior, Owens continued her campaign against Kirk's widow, Erika, who she has baselessly accused of being connected to her husband's death. 

Despite the outlandish nature of her claims, Owens' audience keeps growing – her YouTube channel passed six million subscribers this summer.

But as her popularity explodes, sources close to Owens, 37, told the Daily Mail they're increasingly concerned for her welfare.

'I pray every day for her safety,' one family member said, adding that they wished she would step away from public life entirely: 'I would like for her to get fully out of it. Don't talk anymore. Just disappear.'

Those fears have been sharpened by an era in which Kirk was killed in public and President Donald Trump has survived three assassination attempts.

Even Owens' own former security team echoed the concern, telling the Daily Mail that protecting her became 'more challenging' as her rhetoric grew more provocative.

Tellingly, Owens has for years received mail through a Nashville military barracks address – a state-run program normally used to shield victims of stalkers and abusers from public exposure. 

There are other signs of strain within her own family.

Her father-in-law, Lord Michael Farmer, a British peer and former Conservative politician, released a public statement in August 2024 condemning antisemitism and expressing his support for Israel.

The statement was seemingly in response to comments made by an unnamed 'high-profile member' of his family, widely understood to mean Owens.

Owens has denied any rift, saying she'd recently traveled with Farmer and called him an 'amazing father-in-law.'

Owens' wild theories have also translated into real legal risk.

She's currently being sued for defamation by Brian Harpole, Kirk's former head of security, who says she wrongly linked him to a conspiracy theory about the assassination.

He seeks at least $75,000 in damages, though his legal team has argued a jury could ultimately award far more – potentially in the millions.

That case adds to an existing lawsuit from French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, who accuse Owens of running a sustained campaign to humiliate them – including pushing the false claim that Brigitte is secretly a man. Both lawsuits are ongoing and Owens is asking courts to throw them out. 

Against this legal backdrop, Owens's trip to Russia in June stood out.

She spoke at the Kremlin-linked St Petersburg International Economic Forum and gave gushing interviews to Russian state media, describing Moscow as 'clean and orderly' while suggesting American support for Ukraine was wearing thin at home.

One source who worked alongside Kirk and other conservative figures told the Daily Mail the trip may have doubled as a kind of reconnaissance – a way of testing the waters in case she ever needed to relocate to shield her assets from seizure if she loses her pending lawsuits.

'She [could be] preparing to protect her assets,' the source speculated, though he cautioned she hasn't necessarily made a final decision and could keep fighting the cases for years first.

Owens has firmly denied any plan to move to Russia, dismissing it as a 'lie' and one of several 'crazy stories' circulating about her.

Former colleagues told the Daily Mail that Owens' ambition was simply too great for that kind of retreat. A source who worked with Owens at The Daily Wire claimed her real goal was to become a modern-day Oprah Winfrey, highlighting that in 2021, she even rebranded herself simply as 'Candace,' in what many viewed as an homage to the TV icon. 

That same former colleague described her as someone who 'wants to be the richest, most famous woman' and has a sharp instinct for anticipating where public opinion is heading.

Others noted she's been careful to cater to her largely male fanbase, reportedly saying at one point, 'I won't do anything to challenge the YouTube boys.'

Owens' path has been anything but linear. Born in White Plains, New York, she started out as a progressive commentator in the 2010s before shifting sharply toward MAGA politics.

Kirk brought her on as Turning Point USA's communications director in 2017, and she later became a marquee host at The Daily Wire in 2020.

That relationship fell apart in March 2024, following months of friction with Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over Owens's increasingly antisemitic commentary in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

'I don't think that she started attacking the Jews because she hated the Jews. It's because it was good for clicks,' the former Daily Wire colleague claimed.

Without an employer to answer to, Owens moved further into fringe territory – hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Holocaust denier E Michael Jones and calling convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein 'wrongfully convicted.'

Her rhetoric escalated further after she accused Erika Kirk of being involved in her husband's death and again when she called the Trump administration's support for Israel 'satanic.'

The fallout has been swift: Trump, activist Laura Loomer, and her former colleagues at both The Daily Wire and Turning Point USA all publicly distanced themselves from her.

'I think what she's doing to Erika Kirk is one of the most vile and evil things that I've ever seen in public life,' her former Daily Wire colleague said.

Even within her own family, support has frayed. One relative acknowledged: 'There's some things I probably would have done differently, or said differently, or not even said.'

Owens insists she is merely brave enough to say what others are too afraid to admit.

'I would rather be completely isolated and speak the absolute truth than sit at the table of compromise,' she told her audience last year.

Despite losing favor with parts of the MAGA base and seeing ad revenue dip amid backlash from Jewish organizations, Owens continues to earn a substantial income through her podcast, books and paid speaking appearances.

Her business is run out of a large property in Nashville, Tennessee, where her husband, British entrepreneur George Farmer, helps manage operations.

The couple married in 2019 and are expecting their fifth child this year – even as people who know her say she's grown more isolated.

Opinions are split on what comes next. Some believe she's simply too skilled at reading and riding cultural currents to fade from view; others think her choices are setting her up for her own downfall.

The Daily Mail reached out to Owens for comment.