Braden Peters, the 20-year-old influencer known online as Clavicular, went viral when he abruptly ended a sit-down with 60 Minutes Australia correspondent Adam Hegarty two days before being hospitalized for a suspected overdose.
The interview, which aired on April 12, was centered on the “looksmaxxing” community — an online movement of young men pursuing extreme methods to maximize their physical attractiveness.
Peters is widely viewed as a leading figure in that space and has gone viral in the past for his controversial statements.
Clavicular Was Asked If He Identifies as an Incel
Things went sideways towards the end of the interview when Hegarty asked Peters whether he identifies as an incel. Peters didn’t just dodge the question. He went after the journalist for asking it at all.
“How could you ask me that question as a follow-up after you asked me about my relationships to women? I mean, that’s quite literally the worst sequence of questions I think I’ve ever heard,” Peters said.
Hegarty rephrased the question, noting that “looksmaxxing” originated as a term in the incel community and asking how Peters felt about the association. Peters flatly denied any link, framing looksmaxxing as self-improvement rather than grievance.
“I’m not linked to that group in any way,” Peters said. “Looksmaxxing is self improvement, right? So it’s about potentially even ascending out of that category. So that would be kind of one of the goals is to disassociate from being an incel and overcome that. So that doesn’t make sense.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, incels “are heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.”
Clavicular Walked Off the Set After Being Asked About Andrew Tate
Hegarty pressed further, asking why Peters spends time with controversial figures like Andrew Tate. Peters accused the correspondent of trying to make the interview political — and then things got personal.
“I guess you watched the Piers interview,” Peters said, referring to his interview with Piers Morgan in February.
During that interview, Morgan asked Peters about his associations with controversial figures like Tate and Nick Fuentes. Peters responded by insulting Morgan’s wife after he felt the interview was getting too political.
He then used that same tactic against Hegarty when asked about Tate.
“Too bad I didn’t have time to look into anything about, potentially, who your wife cheated with,” Peters told Hegarty. “But don’t try to go down that line of questioning with me, alright? Because I’m not doing any political jestering.”
Hegarty confirmed that he wasn’t married, to which Peters sarcastically offered to help the journalist with his appearance.
“So I could teach you about looksmaxxing, and then maybe you could switch that up. Thanks for the time, appreciate the interview,” Peters said before walking off and having his mic removed. The interview lasted 50 minutes.
A spokesperson for Peters pushed back on the framing entirely, telling People that the interviewer was operating in bad faith.
“When the journalist pressed him on a topic that isn’t of his expertise, Clavicular shut him down. Clavicular is young, but he understands the media, and he can spot a dishonest reporter when he sees one,” the spokesperson told People.
What Is ‘Looksmaxxing?’
For anyone still catching up: looksmaxxing is an umbrella term for techniques — some mundane, some extreme — aimed at improving physical appearance. Think skincare routines on one end, surgical procedures on the other.
“Looksmaxxing is basically trying to maximize physical attractiveness,” clinical psychologist Dr. Rachel Needle told NBC Miami earlier this month. “There’s the less extreme, and then it goes to extreme. I call it soft maxxing and hard maxxing.”
Peters has built a massive following positioning himself as an authority on the practice.
But as the 60 Minutes interview showed, questions about where looksmaxxing ends and more troubling online ideologies begin remain a live wire — one that Peters clearly has no interest in touching.
