The parents of a Canadian teenager panicked when they found their son missing — only to learn he’d gone to a controversial “looksmaxxing” bootcamp and now wants a $40,000 facial surgery, according to a report.
William Munro, 19, of Ontario didn’t tell his parents he’d flown to Los Angeles to attend “Camp Looksmax,” which focused on the Gen Z trend to boost male attractiveness with extreme physical enhancements, USA Today reported.
Munro was one of 15 young men who attended the seven-day event, run by the embattled influencer Clavicular, who has come under fire for everything from vile misogynistic language to his link to Andrew Tate and recently dropped rape charges.
“It was a super radical decision,” Munro, who paid $7,000 to go to the camp, told the outlet. “I just thought, I’m a young kid. Money comes and goes. So might as well get the experience out.”
When his parents called him at the airport after noticing him missing from his bedroom, he said he gave them a “really basic explanation” of looksmaxxing and lied that he’d won a giveaway from a YouTuber.
Munro, a business major at Western University, now says he wants a major, $40,000 surgery to alter his face, according to the outlet.
He describes himself as a “decent-looking guy” with a good body but said he needs to “put some more focus” on his “actual aesthetic face-wise,” the outlet reported.
At the camp, he learned about double jaw surgery, which moves the upper and lower jaws to correct underbites, often just to enhance looks, and is sometimes risky.
The “looksmaxxing” movement — which first popped up in incel and manosphere forums online — has been criticized for promoting plastic surgeries and fringe, do-it-yourself body mutilations, like the disturbing “bonesmashing” technique.
Bonesmashing calls for guys to hit their jawlines with a hammer to supposedly sharpen its look, though there’s no evidence it works.
Munro signed up for the camp when Clavicular’s rape charges were still active — but said he believes Clavicular’s denial.
Clavicular had been facing charges while he attended the camp, but they were dropped on Oct. 13.
Munro said he paid $7,000 to attend the bootcamp with money he earned working “odd jobs” for years, the outlet reported.
The first week of Camp Looksmax, which billed itself as an educational retreat, was livestreamed 24/7 on Clavicular’s channel on the streaming site Kick starting Oct. 1.
Clavicular touted the event as a chance for would-be influencer men to live in a mansion with a private chef while getting tips on grooming, style and how to flirt with women.
Munro said his perspective on approaching women changed after going to the camp.
“You go see a hot chick. Go try to hit on her, like, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“ You just got to go out, talk to people, make connections. You know, you see people you think are cool. Just go say anything. Go say hi.”
He added that most of his friends “think it’s real cool” that he went to the camp, adding ”probably every person” his age knows Clavicular’s name.
