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Gavin McInnes

From RationalWiki - Reading time: 12 min
McInnes at a Proud Boys rally:[1] style over substance, or GQ over the slobbos
Frogs, clowns, and swastikas
Alt-right
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Chuds
Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time
Buzzwords and dogwhistles
v - t - e
“”How do you feel, you fucking useless fag? I'm so glad you're too scared to make babies. You represent the worst parts of evolution.
—Gavin McInnes[2]
“”"…the embodiment of smoldering ratshit"
—A Montreal archivist on McInnes[3]

Gavin Miles McInnes (1970–) is a British-born Canadian but US-based[4] white nationalist activist, punk rocker,[3] actor,[5][note 1] professional asshole,[7][note 2] and professional troll.[8][9] McInnes was a cofounder of Vice Magazine in 1994, which he left in 2008.[10] (You can blame him for the hipster "look".) He was also the founder of Proud Boys, a "Western chauvinist" alt-right nofap group noted for violence. McInnes turned over leadership of the Proud Boys to Enrique Tarrio in 2018,[11] but in a 2021 interview McInnes was either confused or obfuscating about his ongoing role in the organization.[3][note 3]

McInnes has regularly appeared on The Alex Jones Show, The Rebel Media, Fox News (from which he resigned in 2017), Ben Shapiro's TruthRevolt,[12] and The Federalist.[13] McInnes was also fired from Blaze Media for unknown reasons.[14] McInnes has written for racist or racialist online publications: Taki's Magazine[15] (resigned in 2017),[16] American Renaissance.[17] and VDARE.[18]

Multiple people who have been directly acquainted with McInnes regard him as narcissistic or "profoundly narcissistic", with some claiming that he has narcissistic personality disorder (though they likely didn't have the qualifications to make such a clinical diagnosis).[3] He has admitted to using Adderall and cocaine and has been accused of abusing Adderall by a former colleague;[3] excessive use of either drug can lead to paranoia and psychosis.[19][20] He has made statements indicating that he has a persecution complex ("I am the most misunderstood person in America."), which he blames on liberal persecution.[3] For his part though, he has tried to normalize bigotry as "basic dad politics" ("racism is not a thing", "America was not built on slavery", "gay marriage is a scam").[3]

White nationalism[edit]

“”Well, at least they're not fucking niggers or Puerto Ricans. At least they're white.
—Gavin McInnes on hipsters, 2002[21][22]

McInnes later called this "an antiracist joke from several years ago that becomes reversed when taken out of context (in The NY Press [who conducted the interview] we were all dressed as skinheads except for Suroosh [Alvi] who was wearing a suit. We were all covered with fake blood and bruises to imply a fight had just finished of course without the photo the quote becomes venomous)."[23]

In 2003, McInnes expressed his white pride:[22]

I love being white and I think it's something to be very proud of. I don't want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life.

In 2016, trying to change his image, McInnes claimed that the Proud Boys were just "Western Chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world" and nothing more.[24] On his blog, "Street Carnage", he claimed that he had been described as a white nationalist because "demand for racists doesn't meet the supply so" the media has "to fabricate them out of thin air". McInnes continued:[25]

If you're in a group that promotes traditional values and is anti-shame, well you must be white pride. This is because, to the media, everything is racial. If you wave an American flag, you must be a racist because racists do that too. This chick Nicole Disser asked me if we are a white power organization. I said no. She asked me how I feel about being white and I said we have nothing to be ashamed of. In today's age, that means you're "white pride".

In 2017, McInnes repeatedly espoused the white genocide conspiracy theory.[26] In particular, he claimed that white abortions and immigration are leading to "white genocide in the West",[27] that South African whites are victims of genocide,[28] and that the media is pushing genocide on whites.[29][30]

Anti-trans bigotry[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Transphobia

In a 2014 article titled "Transphobia Is Perfectly Natural", McInnes wrote what can only be called a screed about trans people. A sampling of the screed reads:[31]

We’re all transphobic. We aren’t blind. We see there are no old trannies. They die of drug overdoses and suicide way before they're 40 and nobody notices because nobody knows them. They are mentally ill gays who need help, and that help doesn't include being maimed by physicians. These aren't women trapped in a man's body. They are nuts trapped in a crazy person's body. I see them on the streets of New York. They are guys with tits and a sweatshirt. They wear jeans and New Balance. "What's the matter with simply being a fag who wears makeup?" I think when I see them. You're not a woman. You're a tomboy at best. Get fucked in the ass. And ladies, if you're a butch lesbian, you’re a lady with a lot of testosterone. Put a dick on a belt and fuck your girlfriend. You don't need to turn your vagina inside out. You're not a man. You don't even know what Turf Builder is.

Bigotry and denialism[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Denialism
“”McInnes plays a duplicitous rhetorical game: rejecting white nationalism and, in particular, the term "alt-right" while espousing some of its central tenets. For example, McInnes has himself said it is fair to call him Islamophobic.
—Southern Poverty Law Center[32]

McInnes and the Proud Boys have been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for violating policies of use related to promoting violent extremist groups and hate speech.[33]

McInnes has frequently said outrageously-racist things and then later when confronted about them, claimed that they were taken out of context or that they were meant as 'jokes',[34] but those could just as easily be dog whistles to fellow racists or a bullying tactic (along the lines of 'Can't you take a joke?'[35]).

What McInnes seems to admit to: transphobia, Islamophobia[32] and misogyny ("I believe that 95 percent of women would be happier at home. I'm fine with being perceived as a misogynist.)[34]

In November 2018, McInnes claimed to have cut ties with the Proud Boys two days after it was revealed that the FBI had designated the group as "an extremist group with ties to white nationalism".[36] Nonetheless, he felt compelled to bring a lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center in February 2019 because they designated the Proud Boys as a "general hate" group.[37]

McInnes labelled African Americans Susan Rice,Wikipedia Jada Pinkett SmithWikipedia and Cory BookerWikipedia with the racist terms 'dindu nuffin', 'monkey actress' and Sambo,Wikipedia respectively.[38] He wants you to know however that he's not a Nazi; otherwise, his followers will harass the fuck out of you.[38]

McInnes visited Israel and spouted a bunch of antisemitic shit that was praised by both David Duke and Richard Spencer. Upon listening to the entire video, it's clear that additional context does not make it better.[39] McInnes defended Holocaust deniers:[39]

“”Like at one point, the [Yad Vashem] tour guide goes, 'You know, and there are people who think that this didn't happen.' And I felt myself defending the super-far-right Nazis, just because I was sick of so much brainwashing. And I felt like going, 'Well, they never said it didn't happen. What they're saying is that it was much less than six million and that they starved to death and they weren't gassed.'

And he blamed both the Holodomor and World War II on Jews.[39]

Love thy neighbor[edit]

The sign that hurts Gavin's feelings.[40]
“”If you have that sign on your lawn, you’re a fucking retard.
—McInnes[41]

Following the Proud Boys' 2018 largely-unprovoked assaults on counter-protesters in New York City,[42] McInnes' neighbors in suburban Larchmont, New York agreed to put up signs that read "Hate Has No Home Here".[43][44][45][46][41] The assaults started after a speech by McInnes at a private Republican club and included McInnes' reenactment of the violent 1960 assassination of socialist Japanese politician Inejirō Asanuma.Wikipedia[47] After 'killing' the socialist in the reenactment, McInnes exhorted, "Never let evil take root." (referring to socialism).[47] McInnes and his wife Emily Jendrisak (c. 1974–) took offense at their neighbors' innocuous signs, thinking that they were specifically being targeted. Jendrisak threatened to take legal action against the signs and made direct threats to her neighbors as well as threatening lawsuits against them.[48][49]

Taken as a whole, the McInnes/Jendrisak attack on lawn signs that were not specifically directed at them looks like a friend argument under the guise of a failed publicity stunt (McInnes' open letter to his neighbors contained several lies; Jendrisak worked in public relations[50]):

  • "I am pro-gay, pro-Israel, virulently anti-racist libertarian of working-class heritage married to a Ho-ChunkWikipedia Indian woman. Like most folks in Larchmont, my wife is a proud Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.")[41]
  • "I make my living as a businessman and humorist, and as a political and social commentator. Unfortunately because of who I am and how I express these things, my family and I have become the targets of what we all agree does not belong here: Hate."[41]
  • "The Proud Boys are a drinking club I started several years ago as a joke. There is no racial or ethnic component to its membership, its program or the idea behind it. As it is, I quit my involvement with the group recently and have nothing to do with it whatsoever."

Clarifying and correcting these statements, where they haven't already been clarified above:

  • Jendrisak's mother is Ho-Chunk and her father is presumably Slovak-American based on his surname. But not letting a chance to say something bigoted, McInnes has said elsewhere, "I've made my views on Indians very clear. I like them. I actually like them so much, I made three." and "'Don't let the kids be racist.' Those are going to be her [Jendrisak's] last words. Like I'd say to my little Indian kids, ‘All right, boys, now that she's dead, we can focus on some real nigger stuff. Ha ha! Come on, we’re moving South!'"[51]
  • McInnes' claim to being a businessman is feeble: since he sold his interest in Vice, his primary business is running his blog.
  • McInnes' 'humor' consists primarily trying to provoke outrage, or to 'own the libs'.
  • Jendrisak is actually an unaffiliated voter.[45]
  • Regarding the Proud Boys, McInnes has said, "We will kill you. That's the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We will kill you."[52]

The Larchmont residents are not idiots, however, despite what McInnes thinks.[41] Here's what some of McInnes' neighbors had to say about him:

  • "If you’re so tolerant, then put up a fucking sign in your yard, too, and stop being so narcissistic as to think that this is all about you."[45]
  • "He thinks liberals are stupid and will buy into his B.S. ― as a 'humorist,' he should understand that the joke is on him!"[45]
  • "Their attempts to turn this around are terribly manipulative."[48]

Was it him who changed... or was it Vice?[edit]

McInnes fronting for his band Anal Chinook in 1990: unchanged
“”The final result is really a group effort. It's like a gang bang where I'm the one getting fucked.
—McInnes, regarding the olden days at Vice[53]:3

One thing must be noted: he has always said crap like he says today, even back when he wrote for Vice, probably starting the (by now unconvincing) trend on the far-right that his more obscene statements were made "ironically". And he may have written entire early issues of Vice single-handedly, while definitely setting up the magazine's iconoclastic tone. For example, a noted back in this article, way back in a 2003 profile in The New York Times he said: "I love being white and I think it’s something to be very proud of. I don’t want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life". It's just that back then the magazine "was either bi-partisan or politically apathetic". It was when it started growing and getting more publicity money that McInnes got the purge, as many ad buyers wouldn't put money alongside "controversial" content, which was mostly written by McInnes. Notably, one of the other two co-founders, Suroosh Alvi, admitted to obsessively reading hate literature before starting Vice and that he moved on from that.[54]:2 TL;DR: Vice was the one who changed; McInnes probably did not.[8]

“”We want to make America hate again.
—The unending bile of McInnes (2024)[55]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ His first film was in the short Asshole (2009). No, he did not star as himself.[6]
  2. ↑ Yes, McInnes did play himself in the Gavin McInnes is a Fucking Asshole DVD.
  3. ↑
    “”McInnes: We don’t allow any Nazis or any kind of racism…. We take in these people and we say, ‘We don’t care what race you are—as long as you think the West is the best.’

    Gollner: Gavin, are you still part of Proud Boys?

    McInnes: No, sorry. They do this. They do this.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Who Are The Proud Boys?
  2. ↑ How do you feel, you fucking useless fag? I'm so glad you're too scared to make babies. You represent the worst parts of evolution. by Gavin McInnes (5/22/17, 4:38 PM) Twitter (archived from 18 Oct 2018 01:24:00 UTC).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 The Secret History of Gavin McInnes: In the ’90s, he played punk rock and helped create Vice magazine. Five years ago, he founded a very different organization: the Proud Boys, the far-right group that came to personify the vilest tendencies of Trump’s America. A former Vice editor interviews one of our era’s most troubling extremists. by Adam Leith Gollner (June 29, 2021) Vanity Fair.
  4. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Gavin McInnes.
  5. ↑ Gavin McInnes IMDb.
  6. ↑ Asshole IMDb.
  7. ↑ Gavin McInnes is a Fucking Asshole by Gavin McInnes (2010) Letterboxd (archived from December 19, 2020).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 How Gavin McInnes Went From ‘VICE’ Co-Founder to Fox News Troll
  9. ↑ "Do You Want Bigots, Gavin? Because This Is How You Get Bigots" from the SPLC
  10. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Vice Media.
  11. ↑ Proud Boys Failed to Redact Their New Dumb Bylaws and Accidentally Doxxed Their 'Elders' by Jack Crosbie (11/28/18 8:20AM) Splinter.
  12. ↑ Gavin McInnes TruthRevolt
  13. ↑ Gavin McInnes The Federalist.
  14. ↑ Proud Boys Founder Gavin McInnes Fired From Blaze Media, YouTube Account Disabled: The far-right bigot was kicked off Facebook and Twitter in recent months too. by Hayley Miller (12/10/2018 02:43 pm ET Updated Dec 10, 2018) Huffington Post.
  15. ↑ Gavin McInnes Taki's Magazine (archived from October 7, 2020).
  16. ↑ So Long, Taki! by Gavin McInnes (August 24, 2017) Taki's Magazine (archived from November 1, 2020).
  17. ↑ Gavin McInnes American Renaissance (archived from November 12, 2020,.
  18. ↑ Gavin McInnes VDARE (archived from October 1, 2020)
  19. ↑ Adderall Psychosis (& Paranoia): How to Identify the Symptoms Oxford Treatment Center.
  20. ↑ Cocaine and Psychiatric Symptoms by W. Alexander Morton (1999) Prim. Care Companion J. Clin. Psychiatry 1(4):109–113. doi:10.4088/pcc.v01n0403.
  21. ↑ Vice Rising: Corporate Media Woos Magazine World's Punks (16 Feb 2015 | 06:07) New York Press (Straus Media).
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 The Edge of Hip: Vice, the Brand by Vanessa Grigoriadis (September 28, 2003) The New York Times.
  23. ↑ Letter to Gawker from Gavin McInnes (09/29/03 03:45PM) Gawker.
  24. ↑ Gavin McInnes and His ‘Proud Boys’ Want to Make Men Great Again by Nicole Disser (July 28, 2016) Bedford+Bowery (archived from August 3, 2016).
  25. ↑ The Proud Boys Are Western Chauvinists – That's It (07.30.16 05:21 pm) Street Carnage.
  26. ↑ Gavin McInnes, leader of the 'Proud Boys' and Mike Peinovich, neo-Nazi, talking about collaboration for the #Charlottesville rally 8/12 by It's Going Down (11:21 AM - 24 Jun 2017) Twitter (archived from August 13, 2020).
  27. ↑ This attitude + immigration = white genocide in the West (South Africa's version is much more intense). by Gavin McInnes (5:42 AM - 26 Jun 2017) Twitter (archived from 22 Nov 2017 14:08:46 UTC). https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:McInnes White Genocide.png
  28. ↑ The only thing more haunting than the white genocide going on in #SouthAfrica right now is the liberals who scoff at it. by Gavin McInnes (5:04 PM - 30 Mar 2017) Twitter (archived from 12 Aug 2018 05:22:03 UTC).
  29. ↑ White women: Don't have babies. Also, white women: Have babies if he's black. Black women: Have babies. Also, black women: Don't have babies if he's white. by Gavin McInnes (11:00 AM - 6 Feb 2018) Twitter (archived from 12 Aug 2018 04:59:32 UTC). https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/File:McInnes White Babies.jpg
  30. ↑ there’s zero difference between this, and David Duke yelling “white genocide!!!” because he saw an interracial couple in a Nintendo ad by Brendan Karet (11:08 AM · Feb 6, 2018) Twitter (archived from 18 Dec 2020 03:09:24 UTC). A reaction to McInnes' tweet.
  31. ↑ Transphobia Is Perfectly Natural by Gavin McInnes (August 12, 2014) Thought Catalog (archived from 12 Aug 2014 17:26:07 UTC).
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Proud Boys Southern Poverty Law Center.
  33. ↑ Facebook Has Banned The Proud Boys And Gavin McInnes From Its Platforms: The far-right men's group had relied on private Facebook groups and pages to recruit and organize members. by Brianna Sacks (October 30, 2018, at 9:53 p.m. ET) Buzzfeed News.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Proud Boys founder denies inciting violence, responds to whether he feels responsible for group's behavior: Gavin McInnes sat down with ABC News' Paula Faris for "Nightline." (December 12, 2018, 1:49 PM) ABC News.
  35. ↑ I Was Just KiddingGLSEN.
  36. ↑ Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes quits 'extremist' far-right group: Move comes after the Guardian exclusively revealed that the FBI had categorized group 'with ties to white nationalism' by Jason Wilson (22 Nov 2018 15.29 EST) The Guardian.
  37. ↑ Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes sues Southern Poverty Law Center over hate group label: The SPLC says the group is "known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric" and members "maintain affiliations with known extremists." (Feb. 4, 2019, 11:21 AM PST) Associated Press via NBC News.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Gavin McInnes Wants You to Know He’s Totally Not a White Supremacist by Jon Campbell (February 15, 2017) The Village Voice.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 We Watched Gavin McInnes’s Full Anti-Semitic Rant So You Don’t Have To: The Rebel personality has a lot of thoughts about Jews — and they're even worse in context. by Jonathan Goldsbie (March 14, 2017) CANADALAND.
  40. ↑ I hate "hate has no home here" signs Get Off My Lawn Podcast #101 (archived from January 7, 2019).
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 41.4 Gavin McInnes Writes Letters to Neighbors to Take Down Anti-Hate Signs: The Proud Boys founder wants neighbors to be nicer to him after quitting the group. 'Hate certainly has no place here, and like you I am committed to keeping it that way!' by Will Sommer (Updated Jan. 04, 2019 6:12PM ET; Published Jan. 04, 2019 5:04PM ET) The Daily Beast.
  42. ↑ Two Members of Proud Boys Convicted in Brawl Near Republican Club: The charges resulted from an altercation with anti-fascists after the group’s founder, Gavin McInnes, had spoken in Manhattan. by Colin Moynihan (Aug 19, 2019) The New York Times.
  43. ↑ Gavin McInnes Whines His Fellow Rich Neighbors Don’t Like Him: The self-styled conservative punk lives in a liberal New York enclave where he says he’s the victim of everyone from soccer moms to George Soros. by Kelly Weill (Updated Nov. 13, 2018 12:01PM ET; Published Nov. 13, 2018 4:44AM ET) Huffington Post.
  44. ↑ Amy Siskind warns that far-right leader Gavin McInnes lives here by Gabriel Rom (Published 4:55 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2018; Updated 8:32 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2018) The Journal News. (lohud).
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 Proud Boys Founder Gavin McInnes Can Get Back To Antifa After He Battles His Neighbors: McInnes is complaining that his neighbors’ anti-hate yard signs are an attack on him and his family. by Andy Campbell (01/04/2019 04:19 pm ET Updated Jan 04, 2019) Huffington Post.
  46. ↑ Proud Boys founder asked neighbors to take down anti-hate signs: report by Owen Daugherty (01/04/19 08:37 PM EST) The Hill.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Inside the Proud Boy Event That Sparked Violence Outside of Uptown GOP Club by Carol Schaeffer (October 13, 2018) Bedford+Bowery.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Gavin McInnes' Wife Threatens Neighbors Over ‘Hate Has No Home Here’ Signs: The Proud Boys founder’s newest battleground is his neighborhood; his new enforcer is his wife, Emily McInnes. by Andy Campbell (01/08/2019 03:25 pm ET).
  49. ↑ NEW: I've confirmed that the wife of Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes has been threatening neighbors who display "Hate Has No Home Here" signs with lawsuits and accusations by Andy Campbell (12:30 PM - 8 Jan 2019) Twitter (archived from May 23, 2020).
  50. ↑ Vows: Emily Jendriasak and Gavin McInnes by Jesica (09/28/05 08:10AM) Gawker.
  51. ↑ Gavin McInnes and the Proud Boys: "Alt-right without the racism"? Salon reviewed two years of Gavin McInnes "comedy" clips to capture how the Proud Boys leader talks about race by Amanda Marcotte (October 17, 2018 6:00PM UTC) Salon.
  52. ↑ Why are the Proud Boys so violent? Ask Gavin McInnes (October 18, 2018) Southern Poverty Law Center.
  53. ↑ 'Do's & Don'ts: 10 Years of Vice Magazine's Street Fashion Critiques by Suroosh Alvi et al. (2004) Warner Books. ISBN 0446692824.
  54. ↑ The Vice Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll by Soorush Alvi et al. (2003) Warner Books. ISBN 0446692816.
  55. ↑ Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes: ‘We want to make America hate again’: Far-right figure blames ‘corrupt leftwing media’ for January 6 attack on US Capitol in new Trump documentary by Edward Helmore (28 Oct 2024 14.01 EDT) The Guardian.
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