Louis Theroux's documentaries have taken him to meet some of the world's most controversial figures but there was one documentary he simply couldn't bring himself to do.
During his illustrious career, Theroux has interviewed plenty of hateful figures, whether it be the Westboro Baptist Church which is known for its radical views, racism and homophobia, or Tiger King star Joe Exotic.
His recent Netflix documentary has attracted a huge amount of interest after exposing some of the main names in 'the manosphere', an online world which encourages the objectification of women, often with underlying homophobic, racist and anti-semitic views.
While his latest TV release sees him speak with misguided misogynists who are profiting off spreading their problematic views worldwide, there's an argument that they aren't downright evil, or at least dangerous to Theroux and his cameramen.
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The same cannot be said about terrorist organisations, and that's why the legendary journalist has never wanted to speak with the likes of ISIS as part of his documentaries.
Speaking to LADbible about topics he would actively avoid, the 55-year-old said: “As far as actual subjects, the one that I kind of wanted to do but didn’t do mainly out of fear was going out to ISIS.
“Remember, the so-called Islamic State when they were executing people in orange jumpsuits and rounding people up and throwing them off tall buildings, incinerating them, crucifying them.
“It felt like this weird reanimation of a medieval mindset, like the most extreme, almost pornographic violence being enacted.
“For me as a student of the human condition and forms of organised madness, it felt like the best example, the most horrific but also the most flagrant example of rampant, also contagious, irrationality…but I genuinely wouldn’t have felt safe going out there, even for me or my team so we never went.”
This is reinforced by Theroux's recent comments about HSTikkyTokky (Harrison Sullivan) in the wake of the documentary, as he explained why he doesn't dislike the content creator despite him firing abuse in his direction after its release exposed him.
He said: "I wouldn't say I disliked him. I think a lot about these things, probably too much. My reactions in that journalistic sphere are more complicated than 'I like him' or 'I didn't like him'. Sorry to be really cheese pairing but there were parts of him I liked and parts of him I didn't, to be honest."
Louis also had the camera turned on him in multiple moments with the content creators but it wasn't something that worried him too much, even with the likes of Myron Gaines now suggesting with his footage that viewers have been deceived.
Theroux has previously named the disgraced paedophile Jimmy Savile as the worst person he has interviewed, despite the interview coming before the allegations about the former broadcaster first surfaced following his death in 2011.
Topics: Louis Theroux, Netflix, HSTikkyTokky, Jimmy Savile
James Moorhouse