Correct. That's the point. If free speech is based on how much you make or how many people listen to you then it's not free speech it's a system for extortion.
the person I'm talking to seems to think that an actor with a smaller audience and smaller capacity to cause damages should be punished equally to someone with a bigger audience and bigger capacity to cause damages. with great power comes great responsibility, and the law reflects this
whether you think courts generally award damages appropriately or not is beside the point