(Image via BBC)

Staff Writer: Noel Eckert

Email: neckert@umassd.edu

Social media is good at serving up a consistent slop of unlikable and increasingly outrageous characters for viewers to gawk at in dismay. One of the most famous recent examples of this is Braden Peters, better known by his online alias Clavicular.

While his reputation as an ambassador for the online “looksmaxxing” community might give the uninformed public the impression that he’s a laughable but harmless oaf, his laundry list of controversies reveal him to be anything but. Some recent charges brought about here in Massachusetts might be the most damning and horrific yet, but they are far from where this story begins or is likely to end.

Peters initially came to fame last year for his content in the looksmaxxing subculture: an online community of young men seeking to improve their physical appearance by any means necessary. They believe that appearance can open any pathway, attract any mate, and is the only effective predictor of one’s success in all aspects of life.

 In Peters’s case, this involves methods such as smashing his face with a hammer to develop sharper facial features, injecting himself with testosterone (at the age of 14), and even performing “d— -ups” (whatever you’re thinking, it’s just as bad).

In a vacuum, it’s easy to find this kind of self-destructive behavior in the pursuit of physical attractiveness and (supposed) increased desirability to women disconcerting but darkly humorous. 

But, that amusement only extends so far.

Free will dictates that Peters should feel free to do whatever he wants to himself, and his right to free speech allows him to broadcast his behavior and beliefs to the internet. However, those freedoms may not be known to him much longer.

Around September 22, it was reported that Braden Peters had been charged with rape. The assault is alleged to have taken place in Cape Cod in May of last year, when the accuser was still underaged. In addition to the sexual assault charges, charges for drugging a person for sexual intercourse and providing alcohol to a minor were filed.

This is not the first time Peters has been accused of criminal behavior. He was previously arrested in Florida on battery charges, but was released after his $1000 bond was paid. Earlier this year, Peters was even faced a lawsuit for sexual assault, one of the same offenses he’s now being charged with in criminal court.

It’s important to note that several sources (including NBC) have stated that the victim in the civil case (Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza) and in this more recent case are one in the same. While both cases involve events that were alleged to have occurred in 2025, there’s no concrete evidence thus far relating the lawsuit and criminal charges to the same incident.

Peters is scheduled for his first court appearance on October 14. Time will tell if the charges stick and he will live out the life sentence threatened by his litany of charges.

Much as with his online activity and persona, Peters is not unique in his criminality. The charges brought against him come mere weeks after the indictment of quite possibly the most infamous “manosphere” influencers, Andrew and Tristan Tate, after all.

That case was a long time coming and several years in the making, but Peters’ time in the spotlight has only lasted a little over a year and he’s already managed to procure an impressive resume of much scorned behavior.

It’s easy to point and laugh at characters like Clavicular. Whether it be to cope with the uncomfortable reality of their existence and popularity, or because many still don’t really see online activity as worth taking seriously in the first place, the “harmless narcissus” hypothesis remains popular. But would-be sex offenders like Peters exist behind their Clavicular personas, and their disgusting actions have consequences and, dare it be said, influence.

At a certain point, it’s just not that funny anymore.