Inside the Manosphere – Louis Theroux
Katrina Borthwick - 16th March 2026
Louis Theroux’s latest documentary, Inside the Manosphere, dropped on Netflix on March 11th. In it, Theroux hangs around a few notable influencers to see what’s really going on.
The manosphere is a varied collection of online media and forums promoting masculinity and misogyny, and opposing feminism. That includes various men’s rights activists and support groups, pick-up artists and incels (involuntary celibates). They share the view that society is biased against men, due to the influence of feminism. Adopting these ideas is referred to as ‘taking the red pill’ - a reference to the movie “The Matrix”, about waking up to reality.
In the 90-minute documentary, Louis takes his typical backseat-observer, low-conflict approach. I listened to him later reflect on the experience in an interview on the Romesh Ranganathan Show (a podcast) where he underlined the careful balancing act he ran between sharing his own views and not losing his access. Apparently there is quite a bit of energy going into him ‘not being a dickhead’. His style is very much ‘let them talk’, but with some strategic prompting also. Many awkward moments ensue when those questions land.
Amrou Fudl (Myron Gaines)
Amrou Fudl, known online as Myron Gaines, hosts the Fresh and Fit podcast. That podcast discusses topics such as personal finance, relationships, politics, and gender dynamics. The show has received criticism for the hosts’ views on women and relationships, which have been described as misogynistic. The hosts, and some of the guests, have also expressed antisemitic views, engaged in Holocaust denial and Nazi apologetics, and made disparaging remarks about black women. According to Aavad Hashmi, a Harvard University scholar of Islamic studies, Myron Gaines now belongs to a group of Muslim male influencers known as ‘akh right bros’, who position themselves against Western values and promote a version of Islam characterised by misogyny. In March 2022, the podcast received a weeklong ban on YouTube for hate speech.
Myron Gaines primarily generates income through his podcast, which monetises via YouTube advertising revenue, sponsorships, and donations, alongside selling books, running premium, paid-access communities, and investing in real estate.
There’s a segment in the documentary where Gaines aggressively berates young women on his Fresh and Fit show. “You’re huge, you’re not attractive, and for you to behave in the way you do is a fucking embarrassment to society,” he tells one. “You fat fing bitch, get the fk out of my studio.” In another segment, the women who are there describe their occupations – all Instagram models, influencers or OnlyFans models. Then the hosts proceed to get them to name three countries, only to mock them when one of them says ‘Barcelona’. It looks like it has been set up to make women appear inferior.
But Gaines insists he doesn’t hate women. In fact he “loves women”, and says to Theroux “I actually understand them, and since I understand them, I know what is best for them.” “Better than them?” asks Theroux. “In many ways, yes.”
Gaines says everything about women is a lie, because they wear makeup and you can’t tell when they are menstruating (!). He, like Waller (who I’ll talk about later), also believes in ‘one-way monogamy’, where it is okay for men to cheat. In fact he expresses that he would want multiple wives. This bold statement about multiple wives seems to dissipate somewhat when Theroux deliberately restates his words in front of Gaines’ long time, live-in girlfriend, Angie. The pain on her face is palpable. Theroux points this out after Gaines essentially sends her away on an errand, before Theroux creates more trouble and Gaines, while obviously knowing he is now in the doghouse, still insists she is totally fine with it. At the end of the documentary we learn she left him soon after. Good.
Harrison Sullivan
Sullivan gained prominence on the social media platform TikTok under the name hstikkytokky. His content is focused on fitness, crypto and dating. Sullivan makes money by taking a cut from the OnlyFans and influencer model’s incomes of all the women that appear on his show, while holding them in total disdain. He also plugs an investing app and trading courses, so the more viewers the better.
Sullivan’s mother Elaine is really upfront that she does not agree with a lot of her son’s views. He tries to talk about the limitations of women in front of her, but she retorts “well you don’t know any women my age…”. It’s true he is surrounded by models and OnlyFans women. I wouldn’t think this represents your typical cross section of women, and bear in mind, they are just doing what they need to do to grow their businesses, which means doing what is needed to keep him happy, so that he’ll promote them.
Weirdly, Sullivan complies with a fan’s request to ‘ask him about his friend Saville’, referring to paedophile Jimmy Saville and implying Theroux was his friend. This happens more than once. The first time Theroux points out he was involved in bringing Saville down, and also that Saville is dead (he died in 2011) - a fact they seemed unaware of.
Notably on 24 March 2024, Sullivan crashed his McLaren 720S on the A30 London Road in Virginia Water. Three people were injured, including his friend. He was arrested on 10 October, 2025 after a year-long manhunt which concluded after the documentary. For the crash he received a suspended sentence.
Justin Waller
Older than the others, at around 40 years, Waller boasts approximately one million followers on Instagram. He posts images of himself posing with luxury cars, selfies during his gym workouts, and photos with similar looking men in suits. He has positioned himself as a life coach for men, instructing them on how to be “alpha males”. He advises them on how they should conduct themselves in business, life and romantic relationships. Waller appears to now run a programme aimed at assisting others in growing their own trade business by following his blueprint, called The ‘Constructive Collective’. He has also established a new YouTube channel named JWaller Studios. Waller has posted pictures of himself alongside President Trump and his son Barron. He captioned the picture of him standing next to Barron “History in the making”.
Both Gaines and Waller are proponents of “red pilling”. Like Gaines, Waller “loves women” too. Waller thinks the world is messed up, because men are born with no value and have to strive to achieve it, whereas women are born with boobs and other ‘assets’. Women, supposedly, have more innate “value”, and therefore more power.
Waller says he is worth about $30M, and based on his assets this may be true. He is the CEO and founder of Red Iron Construction, a prominent metal building company. He also owns a real estate company operating in multiple states. Added to this he also promotes ‘The Real World’ programme, which starts at US$50 per month and teaches people how to make money without a degree or certification. All the information he provides can be found with a google search.
I’m not feeling the masculine vibe of this guy. I guess I expected him to be more lumberjack and Swandri shirt, and less manicures and fancy apartments. And, like most of the men featured, he just comes across as really insecure, talking up how great he is all the time.
Sneako
Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, known online as Sneako, is a bit younger than the others, and basically makes videos and live streams for social media. He gained prominence, mainly with teens who mob him in the streets, through YouTube commentary and street interviews. His content has evolved from gaming videos to right-wing political and social commentary that is overtly misogynistic and antisemitic. He mainly appears to create drama to increase views. Examples include asking white people on the street to say racial slurs for one dollar, and hosting discussions on why men and women are not equal. Unsurprisingly he has been banned from multiple social media platforms. At the time of the documentary, he had just had his three-year YouTube ban lifted after being banned from every major social media platform except X.
Sneako has been associated with online personalities such as Andrew Tate, whom he has credited with improving his life, and he’s currently associated with rapper Kanye West and far-right activist Nick Fuentes.
The documentary shows Sneako making false claims that singer Sam Smith is transgender and linked to Satanism. This follows Smith’s 2023 Grammys performance with Kim Petras. Smith, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, has never identified as transgender, or as a Satanist. Theroux challenges Sneako’s assertions, saying, ‘I strongly doubt it,’ when confronted with the Satanism allegation. But, in response, Sneako just steamrolls on about some sort of Satanism conspiracy theory involving world leaders.
Sneako makes money primarily through streaming. He uses his large online following of mainly younger men and teens to generate revenue through platform incentives, fan donations, advertising, and selling products and courses.
(Sneako is second from right in this photo)
Ed Matthews
British influencer Ed Matthews comes across as a super intense guy with piercing eyes and absolutely certainty and boldness in his actions. Unlike the others, he doesn’t seem to be insecure, just a tad psychotic. He’s a UK-based influencer, streamer, and boxer, known for his presence on TikTok and YouTube.
Ed is known for popularising the idea among the British youth of taking on paedophiles online. He was reported to be involved in vigilante ‘sting operations’ targeting suspected predators, and in 2024 was taken away by the cops, as shown in a viral video. He was sentenced to 4.5 months in jail for various offenses relating to these activities.
Conclusion
Don’t expect a documentary that goes in depth into the manosphere, as it really just consists of Theroux following these people around and posing questions to them. It feels like these guys are not the kingpins of the manosphere. Although he did attempt to get Andrew Tate on the documentary, this fell through because Tate wanted to be paid and Theroux had no intention of giving him any money. So the documentary doesn’t go further than these mid-level individuals and their reflections.
Although obviously cognisant for the potential threat Theroux poses in terms of their reputation, it seems that they have all come to the conclusion that the drama it creates, and the views that follow, are worth it. For example while Theroux is filming the documentary, Gaines’ team is filming at the same time and selectively posting these videos online. I’m pretty sure the clips with Sullivan’s Mum never made the cut. Others like Sneako are feverishly posting their thoughts onto social media via video, and engaging with fans over this ‘old man’.
Although they talk about not having 9-5 jobs and being in control of their lives, particularly in the case of Sullivan, it all very much feels like their whole lives have to be contrived around social media views. Those attractive women aren’t chasing these men around because of their ‘alpha male attraction’, they’re just models and influencers trying to drive traffic to their own pages on social media or OnlyFans.
Theroux has been criticised for platforming these individuals and expressing sympathy for their backgrounds - many of them lacking a present father figure in their lives. I think it’s true they are probably making a bit more money off the drama, and I don’t think Theroux’s documentary is going to have any particular impact on their followers. But I do think it is useful to have some of the manosphere thinking laid out bare. I see it here in this piece, and have seen it emerge elsewhere such as in the series Adolescence. As we have seen here, the thoughts of family and partners might actually matter to these guys more than they are letting on, and if the people around young men understand more about the manosphere, then problematic behaviours may be able to be headed off at the pass.