Genuine in the sense that he had a legitimate experience (whether or not it’s due to mental illness) back in the 1990s. Some people are saying that he just did it for attention and doesn’t believe most of his conspiracies (reptillians).
It seems that Jesse Ventura, the American conspiracy theorist thought he was a hoaxster when he met him as well which might be titled “Lost On Irony”.
I’d guess most people who saw that Wogan interview at the time [1991, the one in the youtube clip] thought he was 100% genuine. You have to appreciate the context of the time in that he was a fairly well-regarded sports presenter, familiar face on the TV talking about the football, and then shows up babbling incoherently on the biggest chatshow in the country. I remember watching it and the overwhelming sense was of someone who’d had a nervous breakdown, he seemed sad and alienated. It wasn’t like someone from out of nowhere just showed up because they wanted to get their face on the telly.
Nowadays it’s a different era and trolls who say outrageous things are ten a penny. If that’s Icke then he’s a hell of an actor and was playing a pretty long game. He must have had a decent crystal ball into the bargain, as the internet that acts as his life-support system and gives him an audience had not yet come into being.
Neither - He is simply exhibiting profound psychological issues.
I think the medical term is “fuckin nuts” but genuinely so.
For those unfamiliar with David Icke (or looking for a refresher about a hasbeen conspiracy icon) here’s the wikipedia article: David Icke - Wikipedia (A youtube video, OP, really?)
Why would anyone doubt he is a genuine nutjob?
All of his claims are certainly false. He didn’t have a legitimate experience. He believed it though - he wasn’t trying to deceive people - he was deceived too, by his own mind.
I’m with the consensus on this one. I don’t think Ickes is faking his beliefs. He really sincerely believes what he says. But his beliefs are not based on reality. He is just delusional.
Yes, this describes it well. It wasn’t a hoax, it came across as some kind of mental breakdown - I remember just being shocked and sad.
Never read or seen much about this guy, although I have heard of him.
Generally speaking when one looks into this kind of thinking ( or any conspiracy or pseudo science really) it is not difficult to debunk the ideas. Most of what I have read of this stuff over the last 40 years or so has been complete hogwash, frequently recycled from some earlier, equally discredited “work”. Bottom line? The authors are either genuinely deluded, charlatans out to make a buck, just trolling for attention or some combination of the three
Pity because I want to believe, it is just those pesky facts keep getting in the way
No, the guy clearly has mental issues. He was a relatively well-known sports journalist in the UK, who at one point anchored the BBC’s flagship sports programme, who appeared to have a mental breakdown. He was then, some would say rather cruelly, invited on to the BBC’s flagship primetime talkshow and humiliated himself in front of the whole UK by proclaiming the World was about to end and hinting that he was the Son of God.
To summarize Icke’s career he was a goalkeeper who failed to make it for a top tier team in England before having a short career in the lower leagues (the nearest thing in America would be the minor leagues). He was more successful as a sports journalist in the 1980s, such that he would’ve been known to millions in the UK, but he then had a mental breakdown and humiliated himself live on UK primetime TV in the early 90s. He looked to become a footnote in UK broadcasting history as a bland but reasonably successful sporting journalist who had a meltdown on live TV, but he resurfaced a number of years later in the internet age as one of the World’s most notorious conspiracy theorists.
I once saw a “documentary” about conspiracy theories. When they interviewed Icke, he just talked about the Bilderbergers, and Skull and Bones, and other rich people’s good-old-boy networks. He never mentioned the reptilians. He actually came across as one of the less-nutty people they interviewed.
This leads me to suspect that he is trolling.
Not to go off topic, but am I the only one who thinks that he actually looked handsome when was in his 20-40s?
Because he makes a lucrative living at it? He may have had a mental breakdown once, but that doesn’t really explain the variant bullshit he’s been peddling since.
Icke is out there all right. As the OP states, he had an epiphany(?) in the 90s–he seems serious about it to me. Alex Jones opined, “He’s either a con man, insane, or he’s working for them directly.”
Jon Ronson wrote about him in the book* Them:Adventures with Extremists* and also profiled him an episode his series “Secret Rulers of the World”. Intereresting, crazy stuff.
Icke’s ideas are absolutely my favorite conspiracy theory because of the sheer scope and scale of it all. Hogwash, of course, nuttier than an infinite supply of Snickers…but goodness me, you have admire the dedication.
I saw him on the Wogan show all those years ago. He was obviously mentally ill and required medical help. Unfortunately people just laughed at him. A bit like the old fashioned circus freak shows. Nothing changes, unfortunately…
Well, it takes one to know one, I suppose.
A lot of people believe just as much bullshit without making any money off it. I don’t see it as compelling evidence.
I have no idea how much money David Icke makes, but here’s a source that claims his net worth is $245 million.
There are others who peddle loony conspiracy theories who seem to have done quite well for themselves, namely Mike Adams (of Natural News infamy) and Alex Jones.
It seems possible such folks suffer from a degree of mental derangement, believe a good portion of the nonsense they promulgate, yet are good businessmen and delight in putting one over on the gullible public while raking in the cash.