Documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux recently talked about the moment he felt he had gotten the better of Myron Gaines, one of the most provocative figures featured in his new Netflix documentary. During an appearance on Kara Swisher’s podcast, he talked about the making of his new documentary ‘Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere.’
Gaines, a podcaster and internet personality, is portrayed in the documentary as one of the most hardline voices in that space, promoting views such as restricting women’s voting rights and advocating for a form of one-way monogamy in which men can have multiple partners while women cannot.
Theroux described Gaines as “probably the most extr eme of the people I spoke to,” adding that some of the positions he encountered during filming crossed into darker territory.
“He began talking about how he thinks gay people should live in special designated areas like encampments,” Theroux said. “It gets quite dark, to say the least.”
The turning point Theroux highlighted came during filming when Gaines’ then-girlfriend, Angie, unexpectedly arrived on set. Just moments earlier, Gaines had laid out his long-term vision for relationships, including his intention to have multiple wives in the future.Theroux decided to bring that conversation directly into the open.
“I mentioned to Angie what he’d just said about his plans going forward,” Theroux explained, recalling her reaction as visibly uneasy.
“Angie arrives, and I tell her that at the moment he’s only got one girlfriend, but he’s working toward having multiple wives, of which she might be one,” he said. “You can see she’s hesitant, uncomfortable, not into it.”
What followed, in Theroux’s telling, revealed a crack in the persona Gaines projected online.
Within manosphere culture, Theroux noted, men are often encouraged to “hold frame,” a concept that emphasizes unwavering confidence and refusal to back down from one’s stated principles, regardless of social pressure.
“Then he starts kind of drawing back, which is a big no-no in the manosphere,” Theroux said. “You’re supposed to do something called ‘hold frame.’ You’re supposed to absolutely not compromise: these are my boundaries, and I will not move them.”
Instead, Gaines appeared to retreat from his earlier stance in front of both his partner and the cameras.
“But he starts saying things like, ‘Oh well, maybe I won’t,’” Theroux recalled. “You could see he felt like he’d been owned, that I’d spotted the weakness. His non-dictatorship had been exposed.”
Swisher, who had watched the documentary closely, said she had noticed something in Gaines’ demeanor even before that moment unraveled.
“I was looking at his eyes. He was so sad,” she said. “When he was saying it, it seemed so performative. He was vaguely embarrassed.”
Theroux agreed that the episode captured something essential about the gap between the personas these figures project to their audiences and how they actually present themselves in less controlled settings.
Swisher reinforced the point, noting that Gaines was a very different proposition away from the microphone. “It looks scarier when he’s in control. When you were there, it was a very different situation.”
Gaines had reportedly put pressure on the production team not to include the encounter with Angie in the final film. He was unsuccessful, and Angie has since left the relationship.
