Rent-a-crowd CEO lifts lid on US protest industry’s ‘dirty secrets’

‘All activism is incentivized activism,’ the veteran publicist has claimed

Political protests in the US are rarely acts of pure conviction, according to Adam Swart, CEO of a prominent publicity firm that supplies paid demonstrators for political and corporate events.

Swart, who founded Crowds on Demand in 2012, revealed what was described as the “dirty secrets” of his profession in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. His company recruits and manages individuals who appear at rallies, protests, and public events on behalf of paying clients.

Swart argued that compensating activists is not unethical. He said the service allows people to engage in causes they support but might not otherwise be able to attend.

”All activism is what I call incentivized activism,” he said. “We compensate people for having their views known, but most people who attend demonstrations have some reason for being there other than the so-called purity of their beliefs.”

Swart offered examples to bolster his claim, including the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

”How many real housewives went out to protest for [the Black Lives Matter campaign] in the summer of 2020?” he said. “Do you think it’s because they cared about institutional racism? Or do you think it’s to flex on social media?”

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He added that labor unions sometimes pressure members to attend demonstrations, with threats of less favorable work shifts, and political aides are often expected to take part in campaign events during their personal time.

Paid demonstrators typically earn several hundred dollars per day, according to Swart. Nationwide publicity campaigns, he said, can cost millions. He noted that he recently turned down a $20 million offer from political interests opposed to US President Donald Trump.

Swart emphasized that his rejection of the offer was not driven by ideology but by concerns that the campaign’s likely failure would damage his firm’s reputation.

”The problem is that these are the same consultant class who propped up [former US President Joe] Biden, who propped up [former Vice President] Kamala Harris, who fundamentally failed so miserably in the 2024 election, and who have failed every single day since then in reigning in Trump's agenda,” he said.