Meet the toxic male ‘manosphere’ influencers who are ‘preying on young men’ for money – after Louis Theroux issued a chilling warning to the parents of boys

Louis Theroux issued a chilling warning to the parents of sons this month with the release of his documentary, Inside the Manosphere. 

The Netflix hit explored the influencers who are promoting masculinity, misogyny and opposition to feminism in various videos and posts aimed at young boys. 

Seemingly inspired by the manosphere ‘figurehead’ Andrew Tate, the influencers made money from their many followers by charging for content, promoting online trading schemes and offering a ‘cheat code’ to ‘win at life’.

Theroux’s documentary instantly rocketed to the top of the charts after displaying how pervasive the online trend had become, with the broadcaster saying: ‘We should absolutely expose and be aware of anyone who disparages and denigrates women.

‘But alongside that, these guys are preying on young men, cultivating insecurities. I think things may get worse before they get better.’

So who are the manosphere influencers that parents should be aware of? 

Andrew Tate 

Arguably the most famous manosphere influencer is Andrew Tate – who boast 11 million followers on X/Twitter. 

The 39-year-old American-British influencer first found prominence after appearing on Big Brother UK, where he was removed after seven days when disturbing footage emerged of him whipping a girl with a belt. He claimed it was consensual. 

Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most vocal cheerleaders for the manosphere movement, proudly labelling himself the ‘worlds first and original truly global misogynist’, and insisting women are nothing but ‘sex workers’. 

Such is Tate’s toxic influence that in December the Government announced a new £20million scheme to teach young boys the perils of misogyny, as part of their violence against women and girls strategy.

Following research that four out of ten young men hold a positive view of sexist commentators it was announced that all secondary schools in England will be required to teach students about healthy and respectful relationships.

Tate and is younger brother Tristan have also been involved in several brushes with the law. 

The siblings are currently facing 21 charges in the UK including rape, assault, human trafficking and controlling prostitution. Both brothers have denied wrongdoing.

They are due to be extradited to the UK following the conclusion of proceedings in Romania, after Bedfordshire Police secured a European arrest warrant for further separate allegations of rape and human trafficking involving different women. 

On top of this, Tate is also facing civil action from four women in the UK who have accused him of rape and assault.

He makes money from his followers through his controversial online platform, The Real World, a subscription-based platform designed to teach alternative income generation through means such as cryptocurrency. 

The platform currently has plans costing $99 a month and $499 a month. 

A cyberhack in late 2024 exposed that the site was generating around $5.65m (£4.4m) monthly, even with the brothers on house arrest at the time. 

Hamza Ahmed 

YouTuber Hamza Ahmed boasts more than 2 million subscribers and refers to himself as a ‘cult leader’ on Instagram. 

The British influencer, 28, promises to teach young men ‘self improvement’, with some of his most watched videos titled ‘society failed MEN’, ‘How to actually win in a street fight’, and ‘How girls REALLY want you to talk to them’. 

One of his recent clips, entitled ‘Why Modern Men Struggle With Women’ has been watched more than 50,000 times and claims that Western men struggle with women because they have come from ‘feminist cultures with weaker fathers’. 

He claims that white men in America, Europe and Australia are going ‘extinct’ as a result. 

Ahmed also encourages ‘looksmaxxing’, an online subculture focused on maximising physical attractiveness in order to date women. 

Originating from incel culture, the term covers ‘softmaxxing’, improving appearance through the use of skincare, hairstyles, fitness etc, as well as ‘hardmaxxing’, which involves extreme methods such as surgery and starving oneself. 

Ahmed makes his money through an online platform called Adonis, which describes as a ‘school for influencers’. 

For either $47 a month or $247 a month, he vows to provide ‘step by step detailed courses on becoming an influencer, content creation, getting views, building a cult-like audience’.

Myron Gaines

Host of the controversial Fresh and Fit Podcast, Myron Gaines, 36, was one of the manfluencers who appeared on Louis Theroux’s documentary.   

The content creator, real name Amrou Fudl, rose to fame with his co-host Walter Weekes on their podcast, which promises to ‘provide the TRUTH to men on females, finances, and fitness’.

The podcast, which has featured Andrew Tate and often sees the hosts debating with OnlyFans models in a bid to ‘demolishing’ their arguments, is streamed online across X, formerly Twitter, and paid-for content site Kick, where young men pay to subscribe.

During the documentary, Theroux sat in on a recording of the After Hours section of the podcast, which saw Fudl spar with local female influencers around a table, and in one shock clip saw him brand a female guest ‘fat f***ing b***h’.

Theroux also quizzed Fudl on his hopes to have ‘multiple wives’ – following a ‘one-way monogamous’ relationship with his girlfriend Angie, which allowed him to sleep with other women, while she remained faithful.

The broadcaster noted at the time that Angie seemed uncomfortable with the arrangement, yet Fudl insisted: ‘I do what the f**k I want to do, she’s loyal to me, it’s monogamous on her end and open on my end.

‘She packs my f**king condoms when I travel, that’s how real it is.’

However, shortly after filming the show, Fudl and Angie split.  

After the documentary was released, Fudl called Theroux a ‘liar’ to his army of fans in another podcast format, titled The Debrief, where he shares his controversial and divisive opinions on recent news stories.

In the horrifying over seven-hour long stream titled ‘Inside the Therouxsphere of lies’, he hit out against the documentary as ‘making him look crazy’.

He also used a homophobic and ableist slurs as he hit back at followers with views of disagreement, branded women ‘w****s’ and ‘h**s’, and used an anti-semitic caricature image as he spoke about Jews. 

Adin Ross 

Online streamer Adin Ross came to prominence on Twitch where he would film himself playing video games. 

The American internet personality, 25, developed a friendship with the Tate brothers and has featured Andrew on several of his streams. 

So strong was their bond that Ross was said to be one of the five people who was authorised to visit him in detention in Romania. 

After Tate’s arrest, Ross praised their ‘genuine’ friendship and voiced support for his friend.

He shared: ‘People don’t really understand that this all happening actually affects me because it’s like, that’s my friend.’

In another interview he claimed that Tate was ‘doing God’s work before he got locked up for this nonsense’. 

Other notable names to speak to Ross have been Young Thug, Drake and President Donald Trump. 

He landed the interview with Trump after striking up a friendship with the President’s son Barron, who he described as a ‘f***ing stud’. 

While Ross quickly built up a large fanbase on Twitch, he found himself banned from the platform for promoting ‘hateful conduct’ after posting uncensored racist and antisemitic comments from his fans. 

Ross has since started streaming on Kick.  

HSTikkyTokky

Something of a rising star in the manosphere, HSTikkyTokky – real name Harrison Sullivan – has made a name for himself in recent years through TikTok. 

Sullivan claims to be an elite trader who uses a £20million-a-year income to fund a lavish lifestyle, however, Daily Mail revealed that nothing is as it seems when it comes to the influencer’s supposed wealth. You can read more about that here.

He partially funds his lifestyle with the help of his followers, earning cash from adverts on his social media pages where he promotes gambling firms, cryptocurrency and get-rich-quick schemes.   

Sullivan, the son of a Nigerian-born former England rugby international who won 24 caps for his country in the nineties, has become ever more provocative as he tries to engage others with big follower counts in the hope of catching their followers‘ attention too.

In March 2024, Sullivan was involved in a McLaren car crash in Virginia Water, Surrey. One witness claimed he was travelling ‘at least 100mph‘ in the moments before the crash.

Shockingly, Sullivan fled the scene, leaving his passenger and friend, George Elliot – who has autism – alone in a daze of pain and terror.

But Sullivan didn‘t just flee the scene – he fled the country.

Eight months later, in November 2024, he was due to attend court on charges related to the crash.

He never showed up and, in the months that followed, videos released online revealed he was living the high life in countries such as Qatar, Dubai and Thailand.

While on the run in Marbella, Sullivan was visited by Theroux, who was then filming his documentary on toxic masculinity.

At one point in the film, Theroux cited Sullivan‘s own words, ‘Call me racist, call me a misogynist, call me homophobic, call me a scammer – I‘m all those things‘, before asking if that is how he sees himself.

An agitated Sullivan responded: ‘That‘s my way of saying I don‘t care.‘

Another low point was his decision to show the broadcaster a vile sex act he had shared with his online followers.

Despite hitting out against women sharing sexualised content on OnlyFans, Sullivan was happy to reveal his own videos receiving oral sex in a nightclub toilet. 

Leaning in to look at the content, Theroux reacted: ‘What’s the location? Did she know she was being filmed?’ to which Sullivan responded: ‘Of course she did, yeah.’

‘And she didn’t mind? What’s that all about?’ Theroux pressed, looking concerned, as Sullivan explained the video was for ‘clout’ for both himself and the woman.

Elsewhere in the documentary, Theroux was left stunned once again as he watched on while Sullivan’s fans ‘kicked and punched’ a man as they targeted him for content.

Theroux explained that one of Sullivan’s followers had ‘claimed to have set up a date online with an older man with the idea of humiliating him live on stream’.

Sullivan joined the two young fans as they waited for the man to arrive, where they were seen being encouraged by viewers to ‘punch up’ the unsuspecting man.

Shortly after filming, Sullivan was arrested last August by local authorities in Marbella for allegedly attacking a man with a glass, leaving him with, in the words of Malaga’s National Police, ‘extremely serious injuries to his neck‘.

Sullivan was extradited to the UK on October 10 last year and taken into custody.

He went on to plead guilty to dangerous driving and driving without insurance at Staines Magistrates‘ Court and yet, remarkably, walked free after the judge issued him with a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Sullivan was also disqualified from driving for two years, issued with a temporary 9pm curfew and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.