Fitness and bodybuilding commentator Coach Greg Doucette recently had to retract a video he posted about looksmaxxing influencer Nocturnal Kent, after it emerged that Kent had fabricated a story about his own passing.
Doucette had posted a video claiming Kent had passed away from a brain aneurysm, based on information circulating in online looksmaxxing communities. After the truth came out, he pulled the original video and issued an apology, explaining that he had no reasonable way to verify the claims at the time.
“I was duped. I was tricked,” Doucette said in his follow-up video. “I posted that a looksmaxxer had passed away from an aneurysm. It was about 5 or 6 days ago.”
He pushed back against those who criticized him for not fact-checking the story, noting that even Kent’s close friends had been unable to reach him. One friend, Androgenic, posted publicly that he had barely eaten or slept trying to get answers.
“I tried reaching out to family, anything to get some clarity,” Androgenic wrote. “The not knowing was heavier than I expected. When I finally heard you were out, tears ran down my face.”
Doucette argued that if someone who knew Kent personally could not confirm whether he was alive, he could not have been expected to either.
The fallout pointed to a pattern of dishonesty already associated with Kent. The looksmaxxing influencer had built his following on the claim that he transformed his appearance by eating large amounts of sugar to supposedly increase bone density and improve his jawline.
He was later exposed for using PEDs. Evidence also emerged that he had manipulated his before-and-after photos, including photoshopping a black eye onto an older image to make his “before” appear worse.
“You make the before worse and you make the after better. And then when you see him in real life, you’re thinking, ‘What is this guy?'” Doucette said.
The fake passing appeared to have been orchestrated through anonymous accounts posting about a brain aneurysm, with Kent staying silent to allow the narrative to build before resurfacing.
Doucette noted that the medical reality of a brain aneurysm does not align with a five-day hospital stay followed by a full recovery.
Doucette said the stunt followed what he described as a pattern of publicity plays from Kent, including a previously fabricated email supposedly showing plastic surgeons plotting to take him down.
In his follow-up, Kent said he wanted to move away from controversy and return to being “the Kent that helped, the Kent that was your friend.” Doucette was unconvinced.
“Away from clickbait and controversy,” he responded. “Yet you fake your own death.”
