News24 South African-born YouTuber Josh Pieters attracted more than 1 million views in a single day for his latest upload, a video wherein he pranks controversial UK commentator Katie Hopkins.
Pieters and his collaborator, Archie Manners, flew Hopkins to Prague to receive the Campaign to Unite the Nation Trophy (CUNT) awarded by their fake organisation, The Cape Town Collective for Freedom of Speech. They set up the organisation a few months before the “annual dinner”.
The video’s release coincided with the announcement from Twitter that it had suspended Hopkins’ account for violating its anti-hate policy.
Pieters and Manners hosted the dinner in Prague on Monday and raced to get the edit out in time for all the media hype around the social media giant’s announcement.
“I wish I could say the timing was carefully planned but it was pure coincidence,” said Manners. “We rushed to get the edit out by 9 last night,” he said.
According to Manners, a presenter and magician, mocking people in power and influence was a strong British comedic tradition. “You want to punch up, not down,” he told News24.
“If Hopkins, who has over 1 million followers, uses her platform to make money and spread hateful views, why can’t we use our freedom of speech to make her look a little silly?”
According to Manners, the intention was not to “destroy her”, but rather to poke some fun and waste her time but nothing had prepared them for the hate and vitriol she shared in her acceptance speech.
“During the dinner we made it seem like we agreed with what she was saying. We wanted to see how far she would go when she was surrounded by ‘friends’ who were on the same side. She took it even further, the things she said weren’t just borderline or racist but disgraceful,” he said.
Hopkins can be heard in the video saying, “it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time” and that it is unusual to be receiving an award as she is usually receiving “a deluge of fire balls”.
The duo did not expect the video to go viral so quickly but according to Manners, Hopkins “dug her own grave”.
WARNING! GRAPHIC COMMENT! I think this clown, Pieters, need to have his ass kicked around his ears a few times. Just my opinion.
Bruh… Who tf told this guy that by making up an award, paying to have the trophy built, paying to have HER fly there, paying for the venue, probably paying for her lodging and food as well would be a prank ON HER!? He also did the typical thing in this post-modernist type of slander seeking snakery; He called her hateful and racist but gave no quotes! (“‘)… Meaning it’s feelings and bullshit on display on another big Youtube channel. Where are all the smart/intelligent people at, I need to find some to be around before I catch the stupid that’s spreading.