The disturbing rise of Clavicular: how a looksmaxxer turned his ‘horror story’ into fame

His gonzo argot of ‘mogging’ and ‘jestermaxxing’ masks a malign chauvinist philosophy, and his audience keeps growingHow’s your “jestermaxxing” game? Have you been “brutally frame-mogged” lately? If you’ve been finding this kind of online discourse even more impenetrable than usual, a 20-year-old content creator calling himself Clavicular is probably to blame.Born Braden Peters, Clavicular is a manosphere-adjacent influencer who has recently broken containment for a string of high-profile controversies, including livestreaming himself apparently running over a pedestrian with his Tesla Cybertruck and being filmed chanting the lyrics to Kanye West’s Heil Hitler in a nightclub with the self-styled “misogynist influencer” Andrew Tate and the white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes.Before taking up with what some feel are among the worst men alive, Clavicular was known only as a “looksmaxxer”, a young man intent on optimising his physical attractiveness by frequently extreme measures (such as steroids, surgery and, er, taking a hammer to his jaw).Yet Clavicular’s gonzo live streams and absurd lingo have seen him escape his subcultural silo, landing him a modelling gig at New York fashion week and a profile in the New York Times.So where has he come from? And what does his rise mean for humanity?Peters came to prominence last year on the streaming platform Kick (like Twitch, but more laissez-faire with content moderation), where he now has nearly 180,000 followers

Ministers may slow youth minimum wage rise amid UK unemployment fears

Ministers are considering a slower rise in the minimum wage for younger workers, amid fears over rising youth unemployment.Labour had promised in its manifesto to equalise national minimum wage rates by the time of the next election, saying it was unfair younger workers were paid less. Government sources said equalisation remained the aim but the rise could come more slowly.At the current rates, those between 18 and 20 are paid a minimum of £10 an hour, rising to £12.21 an hour for those over 21

Brazilian butt lifts should be banned in UK amid ‘wild west’ industry, MPs say

Brazilian butt lifts should be banned in the UK, MPs have said, as a report found a lack of regulation had led to a “wild west” of cosmetic procedures being carried out in garden sheds, hotel rooms and public toilets.The women and equalities committee (WEC) said high risk procedures such as non-surgical buttock augmentation should be outlawed immediately, and a licensing system for lower risk treatments was urgently needed. People with no training can carry out potentially harmful procedures, putting the public at risk, the group of MPs added.A nine-month inquiry by the committee also found ministers were not moving quickly enough to tackle the risks posed to Britons and recommended they “accelerate regulatory action”. The lack of timely action was “fostering complacency in self-regulation” within the industry, they cautioned

UK shoppers warned over spread of harmful and illegal skin lightening kits

Illegal skin lightening products are being sold in an increasingly wide range of UK outlets, including butchers, specialist food shops and small grocery stores, trading standards officers have warned.The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is warning that many of the products contain substances that are banned because of the serious risks they pose to health, including skin damage, infections and pregnancy complications.Officers say that, as well as online, they are finding them more frequently in Asian and Arab stores, plus specialist butchers and grocery stores for other diverse communities, whom the products are primarily targeted at.Tendy Lindsay, former chair of the CTSI, said: “As a Black woman and a longstanding advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion, I want to be absolutely clear: the sale of illegal skin lightening products is not only dangerous, it is unlawful.“Many of these products contain banned substances such as high levels of hydroquinone, mercury or potent corticosteroids

‘It’s soul-crushing’: young people battle to find any work in bleak jobs market

On any given day, Poppy Blackman is engaged in the “soul-crushing” process of applying for a new job, and rarely ever hearing anything back.The 22-year-old has been unemployed since January 2025 and says she applies to an average of 50 roles a month, using one of four different CVs she has written for different types of jobs and sectors.“I can’t be picky with what I want to apply for,” says Blackman, who lives in London. She studied fashion and art design at North Kent College but has given up on only applying within this sector.“Not a day goes by when I don’t apply for at least a few jobs,” she says

Fostering target brings hope for thousands of children | Letter

Re your editorial (The Guardian view on fostering: reform is welcome, but excess profits must be tackled, 10 February), I’ll never forget the midnight feast that nobody ate. Four children sat shellshocked in my lounge, having just been removed from their home. They didn’t know or trust us. We tried our best to make them feel comfortable with cookies, doughnuts and crisps, but it would take several days before they were ready to tuck into treats.Fostering has been one of the biggest privileges for my wife and me over the past 20 years