Man 'fired' from job over controversial far-right views in viral debate speaks out
Warning: This article contains discussion of racial discrimination which some readers may find distressing.
The man who was fired from his job after expressing controversial far-right views in a viral internet debate has spoken out for the first time since his sacking.
Connor Estelle, known online as Pinesap, came up against British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan in a Jubilee episode of Surrounded, which has now amassed over 5 million views on YouTube.
During the episode, Mr Hasan spoke with a wide range of far-right conservatives but was left shocked after Mr Estelle openly outed himself as a fascist, and suggested that he didn't care if people called him a Nazi.
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He said: "I don't care about being called a Nazi at all. They persecuted the church a little bit, I'm not a fan of that.
Mr Hasan then asked him what his thoughts were on the Nazis and their persecution of Jewish people, to which Estelle replied: "I certainly don't support anyone's human dignity being insulted, I'm a Catholic. I think that there was a little bit of persecution, which is bad."
Of course, most the adult population will understand the horrific crimes that were committed against approximately six million people during the holocaust but Mr Estelle's refusal to condemn their actions landed him in hot water at work shortly after the video went viral.
On a fundraiser, which has bafflingly raised around $35,000 at the time of writing, he wrote: "My name is Connor and I was recently shown in the latest Jubilee episode, as a result, unfortunately I was subsequently released from my job. I'm raising money as an emergency fund and for other expenses while I look for a new job. Unfortunately voicing fully legal traditional right wing political views results in real consequences. This is cancel culture and political discrimination on full display."
In an interview with Rift TV, the right-wing Catholic suggests that he was 'destroyed' when he found out that he'd been let go, in an update which saw much of the internet rejoice.
He said: "Unfortunately I lost my job as a result and no-one really is to blame for that. It's just the culture that exists surrounding the manner in which you are cancelled for voicing any heterosexual or Christian moral belief, that goes beyond the secularism and relativism that we are so used to in our time."
Mr Estelle went on to reference El Salvador as a 'paradise', with the Central American country cutting down crime rates since President Nayib Bukele was elected, and he only had to throw thousands of innocent people and children in one of the world's worst prisons to achieve that. Sounds idyllic.
After being asked how it felt to lose his job over his 'not illegal' political views, Mr Estelle replied: "Frankly kind of destroyed. I put a lot of pride in the work that I do. I try to treat everyone with a level of respect, love and decency.
"Why is it that we have to live in a society where people are killing themselves, they are addicted to drugs, they are looking for all manner of ways to fill the vacuum and the void that is going on in their lives. And I am the evil one for calling that out. I just simply don't understand that. I find it to be so abhorrent that anyone who is willing to care enough about other people and willing to lay down their life so that other people may have a better life, is cancelled from that."
However, many are making the very important point online that freedom of speech does not equal freedom of consequences, and that his mystery employers did the right thing by getting rid of a man who quoted a known member of the Nazi party and admitted to being a fascist.
There was a twist in the tale after VeUP, the company who were listed on Mr Estelle's LinkedIn page and were reported as his employers by several other outlets, confirmed to LADbible that he, in fact, had never been 'an employee, consultant, or direct contractor of VeUP.'They added: "Mr. Estelle's engagement was exclusively with Helix Ltd., an independent subcontractor. Consequently, Mr. Estelle's statements are solely his own and do not represent VeUP's views, values, or positions.
"We note that Mr. Estelle's personal LinkedIn profile incorrectly listed VeUP as his employer. We have formally requested LinkedIn remove this erroneous reference immediately.
"As this issue pertains entirely to a third-party supplier, VeUP will refrain from further comment."
It was then alleged that he was an employee of a different company, and LADbible has contacted that employer for comment.
James Moorhouse