The transformation is complete. Once a darling of the liberal elite, a Hollywood A-lister now stands as the manosphere’s unlikely prophet. And Whitehall is watching with unease.
Leaked memos from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport reveal officials are tracking the actor’s influence on UK-based online communities. The fear? That his rhetoric could supercharge a nascent British men’s rights movement, already stirred by figures like Andrew Tate.
The actor in question, whose Oscar win a decade ago celebrated progressive values, now podcasts about ‘feminist overreach’ and ‘male disposability.’ His audience is vast, mostly young, and increasingly male.
‘He’s giving intellectual cover to ideas that used to exist only in the margins,’ a Downing Street advisor told me. ‘The concern is that this normalises a certain kind of grievance politics.’
Data from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate shows mentions of the actor’s name spiked by 340% in UK-based misogynistic forums last quarter. Backbenchers on the Labour left are agitating for a parliamentary debate.
But what alarms strategists most is the coalition he builds. His message bridges the gap between lads-mag nostalgia and hardline anti-feminism. It’s a voting bloc no one wants to name, but everyone wants to court.
‘It’s the fabled “men without moorings”,’ said a senior Conservative researcher. ‘Tory strategists have been trying to bring them in for years. But this guy? He’s toxic.’
No formal response from the government yet. But expect a carefully worded statement by week’s end. The actor’s next UK tour is already selling out arenas.
The culture war just found its British front.
