Recommendations of the Editorial team
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage released a 30-second cameo video on Thursday (January 15) in which he was brought in to write a personal tribute to Ian Watkins. The Lostprophets singer is a convicted child molester and was killed in Wakefield Prison in October.
In the video, Farage said: “This message is a tribute to Ian Watkins, a good man, a really good guy, who was very close to me, who loved his children and will forever be sorely missed by them.”
The politician continued: “He will always hold a very special place in everyone’s hearts. And remember what he always said: ‘mad lolz’ – well, I tell you, that pretty much sums up the world, doesn’t it? My condolences, but please try to keep the good memories.”
Money for a short video
How could the strange statements about a pedophile come about? The prankster who requested the video was John Smith. He later revealed this online and explained that he had been inspired by a similar prank Farage fell for last year, in which he naively trumpeted the pro-IRA slogan “Up the Ra” to the world.
Apparently there weren’t many problems in deceiving the right-wing populists. “Getting the statement was a breeze, I simply asked him to make a video on behalf of a late friend named Ian Watkins and his family,” Smith said. “I am concerned that he could not see through my frankly transparent deception and was willing to do anything for money without even a rudimentary check.”
Smith also asked skeptically: “If he’s doing this for little money, what would he do for donors with deeper pockets?”
This is how Nigel Farage reacted to the prank
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has also commented on the prank, which makes him look bad on several occasions. He responded to “Metro” briefly but with biting humor: “Thank him for the money. There are a lot of Ian Watkins. Tell him to send more money. I adjusted his request.”
There are no two opinions about Ian Watkins: the frontman of Lostprophets may occupy a special position in the ranks of convicted criminals. Watkins pleaded guilty in 2013 to 13 sexual offenses including attempted rape of a baby, incitement to rape a child, three counts of child sexual assault, seven counts of taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image depicting a sex act with an animal. It came out in court that the musician even wanted to father a child in order to then abuse it.
Watkins was ultimately sentenced to 35 years in prison. Two men were charged with his killing in November.