Clavicular's rise shows the manosphere is changing. His criminal charges raise new questions - USA Today
Clavicular, the controversial streamer who rose from the corners of the internet to the mainstream advocating for extreme tactics to achieve physical attractiveness, now finds his internet fame spilling into the courtroom.
Braden Peters, better known for his online moniker, has been charged in Massachusetts court with rape, drugging a person for sex and providing alcohol to an underage person, court records show.
Peters, 20, has become the visible face of the "looksmaxxing" movement. He’s gone to extremes such as hitting himself in the face with a hammer so his bones supposedly grow back sharper and taking small amounts of methamphetamine in an attempt to suppress his appetite. Offshoots of the trend, which are associated with the "manosphere," have ventured into sexist, misogynistic and racist philosophies, while Peters himself has drawn criticism for using racial slurs during his streams.
The viral nature of his controversial soundbites and short-form content helped usher what was once a niche subculture on obscure Reddit forums into the mainstream on TikTok, Instagram and Kik, where he’s collectively amassed more than 2.7 million followers. Now, the turn in his trajectory offers a window into the pitfalls of a movement drawing young men online in droves.
"Looksmaxxing" is the process of maximizing one’s physical appearance through hygiene, fitness and style.
The term has gone mainstream and can have positive implications, such as getting healthy or working out more in the hopes of finding more confidence in the dating world.
However, the looksmaxxing movement has roots in online incel culture, which villainizes women, and has become a new subset of the "manosphere," a digital collection of websites, videos and social media that promote male supremacy and advocate for traditional gender roles.
The combination of technology and the natural insecurities that arise during teenage years creates a "perfect storm" for innocuous sports and health spaces to tune young men into radical content, Gary Barker, the president of Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, an organization that advocates for healthy manhood, previously told USA TODAY.
"They’re going there with kind of innocent intentions, but without somebody else supporting them, that innocent intention can become a follower who drops their critical thinking," Barker said.
Looksmaxxing creators have become a modern extension for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Among these creators, such as Kareem Shami, an early adopter who encourages "mewing," and Alex Costa, who focuses on "softmaxxing" with style and haircare, Clavicular has become the most extreme, advocating for surgical upgrades. In June, he livestreamed his rhinoplasty on Kick, undergoing four procedures ahead of Paris Fashion Week in what he called "Ascension Week."
As his looksmaxxing tactics have been more extreme, so have his far-right, sexist and racist rhetoric.
His streams often feature degrading language regarding women, and he was seen partying in Miami with Andrew and Tristan Tate, manosphere creator Sneako and far-right nationalist Nick Fuentes in January, where the group was filmed singing along to Ye’s "Heil Hitler."
On Sept. 4, Romanian prosecutors indicted 39-year-old Andrew Tate for allegedly trafficking minors, money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering, and his 38-year-old brother Tristan Tate for alleged complicity.
"The current version of the manosphere has become much more mainstream than it used to be," said University of Wisconsin-Madison public affairs professor Mariel Barnes, whose research focuses on backlash to gender equality and the manosphere. "You don't need to hide who you are anymore if you're a raging misogynist."
Extreme fringes of the manosphere have orchestrated or praised violent attacks against women, a trend Netflix’s 2025 crime drama "Adolescence" highlighted by following the story of a 13-year-old boy who was radicalized by misogynistic culture online.
Peters' September charges come after his teen protege Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza sued him in April for physical and sexual abuse after an incident at his Cape Cod, Massachusetts, home in May 2025. Mendoza alleged that the content creator had sex with her while she was intoxicated and without consent, and injected her with an "unapproved drug" during a livestream when she was 16.
Young men who tune into extreme content and are isolated from women and other men are more likely to take on radical views or engage in violence, according to Barnes.
"If you are constantly consuming this content and you are isolated and women are responsible for the bad things that are happening to you, it's very dehumanizing, right?" Barnes said. "You don't see women as humans anymore, or as peers or as friends, and that dehumanization gives you permission to treat them as less than human."
Taijuan Moorman and James Powel contributed reporting.
Rachel Hale’s role covering Youth Mental Health at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.Reach her at rhale@usatoday.com and @rachelleighhale on X.
