Which companies or organizations have a documented history of organizing paid protesters?
Executive summary
Crowds on Demand is the best-documented commercial operator that organizes paid protesters and related theatrical crowds for clients across U.S. cities, a practice reported in multiple outlets and tied to lawsuits and promotional hiring posts [1] [2]. At the same time, spoofed “hire-a-protester” websites and disputed claims complicate the broader narrative: some viral examples are fabrications, while academic and journalistic reporting confirm that astroturf services do exist [3] [1].
1. Crowds on Demand: the company most consistently named in reporting
The Beverly Hills firm Crowds on Demand openly markets services that include “protests, rallies, flash-mobs, paparazzi events and other inventive PR stunts,” and journalists have repeatedly documented specific instances and lawsuits tied to its operations [1]. Reporting shows the company has provided actors to populate public meetings, simulate supporters and opposition, and stage demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and other locales, and it has been directly implicated in a range of commercial and political gigs [4] [1].
2. Legal trouble and public scrutiny around Crowds on Demand
Coverage by the Los Angeles Times detailed an extortion lawsuit involving Crowds on Demand and cited examples of the firm’s work, signaling both the business model and the legal risks clients and the company can face when paid demonstrations intersect with local politics and corporate disputes [1]. That reporting frames paid protests as part of a larger “astroturf” industry and quotes scholars who study paid grassroots manufacturing, demonstrating that the company is unusual mostly for how openly it advertises these services [1].
3. High-profile claims, denials and client names in the record
Media accounts — including a New York Post claim — have tied Crowds on Demand to political campaigns, such as an allegation that Anthony Weiner paid actors to attend a 2013 mayoral campaign event, a claim Weiner has disputed and said was fabricated [4]. More recently, reporting cited by Wikipedia states that Texas hotelier and Republican donor Monty Bennett hired Crowds on Demand to build advocacy networks in Dallas, though the primary source cited in that summary is a 2024 report noted in the company’s public coverage [4]. The company’s founder has also told reporters that he has worked with “dozens of campaigns” but has declined to list clients for fear of losing business, with public records identifying only a few confirmed campaign engagements [4].
4. Recruitment, theater and marketing tactics as evidence of a paid-protester market
Crowds on Demand has publicly posted job listings and recruitment pitches — including a 2024 ad seeking unusually large “giants” to add an “intimidation factor” to demonstrations — which journalists have reported as direct evidence the company actively hires performers to appear at protests and events [2]. Local news and NBC Los Angeles coverage have captured instances where paid actors represented themselves as concerned citizens in city meetings, offering concrete case studies of how the service has been deployed on municipal issues [4] [1].
5. The limits of the record and the role of spoofed services in public perception
While Crowds on Demand is repeatedly documented, the landscape is blurred by spoofed sites like ProtestJobs.com and DemandProtest.com that appeared during high-interest protest moments and were later identified as hoaxes or satire; fact-checkers warn these fakes amplify the myth of ubiquitous paid protesters even as real services exist [3]. Academic observers cited in reporting emphasize that astroturfing is a real phenomenon but that viral claims of “paid protesters everywhere” often outpace verifiable evidence, so careful source-by-source verification remains necessary [1] [3].