Updated October 21, 2026, 8:36 a.m. ET
William Munro didn’t tell his parents he was going to Camp Looksmax. The 19-year-old student lives at home, so his parents were concerned when they didn’t find him sleeping in his room in the morning. They called him in a panic while he was waiting at the Toronto airport. He had already purchased $2,000 in plane tickets to Los Angeles with his own money and paid another $5,000 to register for the camp.
“It was an ultra radical decision,” he remembers about that evening at the end of September. “I just thought, I’m a young kid. Money comes and goes. So I might as well experience it.”
Munro was one of 15 young men who participated in a seven-day bootcamp in a Los Angeles home hosted by controversial online personality Clavicular, the best-known face behind the “looksmaxxing” movement. Clavicular, real name Braden Peters, has raised eyebrows for everything from the misogynistic language he used during live broadcasts to his association with Andrew Tate and the criminal charges he faced in September for rape; These charges were dropped shortly after Munro’s time at the bootcamp ended.
Munro said he attended the camp to learn more about lookmaxxing, the online trend in which young men attempt to improve their appearance and personality to better themselves. Its supporters say it is empowering and demonstrates their belief that appearance matters and that there are ways to achieve the ideal appearance. But extreme iterations of lookmaxxing – like what Clavicular is known for – have been criticized for promoting plastic surgeries and bangs., do-it-yourself mutilations, such as the famous “bone crushing” technique of hitting a person’s jaw with a hammer to supposedly sharpen their appearance; no evidence suggests it works, and experts say it’s dangerous.
After camp, Munro says he is now seeking $40,000 surgery to alter his face.
A budding lookmaxxer
Munro, from London, Ontario, is a first-year student at Western University studying business and management. He spends his days training, hanging out with friends and taking classes.
“I applied (to the camp) thinking I couldn’t do this,” he told USA TODAY, but the acceptance call came around 10 p.m. the day before it started.
Munro says he paid for his trip with money he earned working in “odd jobs” since he was 16 – and playing online sports and baccarat that month. “It’s not good, but I’m a bit of a player,” he says, adding: “Just let me spend some money on this before I lose it.”
When his parents called him at the airport, he says he gave them a “very basic explanation” about lookmaxxing and lied about winning a giveaway from a YouTuber. Munro didn’t elaborate on who Clavicular is or his growing list of controversies, including rape charges he faced in September which were dropped on October 13.
Munro enrolled in the camp while the charges were still active, but says he believes Clavicular’s denial. He says one of his friends unfollowed him after it was revealed he was at Camp Looksmax – he assumes it’s because of the Clavicular controversies. Besides her, Munro says most of his friends “think it’s really cool” that he went to the camp. He says “probably every person” his age knows the name Clavicular.
Samuel Cornell, a researcher at the University of Queensland who studies lookmaxxing, says influencers like Clavicular are “specialists in manipulation”.
“There are a lot of people willing to capitalize on human wants or desires,” he says, adding, “In this case, we have this whole ecosystem online that just preys on the insecurities of young boys.”
A representative for Clavicular did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Inside Looksmax Camp
The first week of Camp Looksmax, which began on October 1, was broadcast live 24/7 on the Clavicular channel of the Kick website. The camp’s website billed it as an educational retreat, touting a mansion, a private chef and a week of advice on hair, style and how to flirt with women in “cold approach” scenarios. The livestream aspect is an integral part of the pitch. “Build your brand…Work on your on-camera presence and find the moments that show your progress in your own clips,” the website reads., position the event as an opportunity to relaunch an influencer career.
On the first day, all the men introduced themselves to the group, telling everyone their “stats,” meaning their height, weight, and penis size. They also shared their “blackpill moment,” a term for the moment when someone realizes that appearance matters more than anything when interacting with women or moving forward in the world. Clavicle and lookmaxxing influencer Hexumlite, the camp’s other co-creator, urged men to be honest and not sugarcoat their answers.
For the remaining days, men, all aged from their mid-20s to late teens, went to nightclubs, attended presentations on jaw surgery, and went door-to-door for an online casino sponsoring the camp, trying to get strangers in a Los Angeles neighborhood to start betting on the website; Clavicular signed a long-term deal with the casino for an undisclosed amount and has been offering promotional codes regularly since August.
Munro’s favorite day was the yacht party, where Clavicular and Hexumlite would bring women out on an expensive boat with drinks, dancing and flirting.
Munro says he just got involved in lookmaxxing this year “due to the growing popularity of it recently” on his social media feeds. He says he only knows the “basic knowledge” of the subculture. He started following Clavicular on Instagram a few months ago, and that’s how he discovered Camp Looksmax, thanks to one of the influencer’s posts.
He says the main lesson he learned at camp was to ignore his natural tendency to stay quiet in the world — a common Gen Z trait that contributed to his loneliness problem — and just start talking to people.
“You know, most of the time you get a positive outcome from the conversation anyway, compared to if you just stayed silent,” he says. “You would have just had a superficial, boring day… You just have to go out, talk to people, make connections. You know, you see people that you think are cool. Go say anything. Go say hello.”
His view on approaching women has also changed since the camp.
He adds: “You’re going to see a hot girl. Go try to pick her up, it doesn’t matter.”
Consider jaw surgery
But he also went to improve his appearance.
Munro describes himself as a “decent-looking guy” with a good physique, but he needs to “focus more” on his “real facial aesthetic.” At camp, he learned about double jaw surgery, which moves the upper and lower jaws to correct underbites, sometimes just for beauty reasons.. Although it is intended to help people with severe jaw misalignment, patients risk jaw fractures and hearing changes, according to Healthline.
Munro still worries about his parents’ opinions on the matter, even though he wants to pay for the $40,000 operation himself. But he thinks they would come back.
“I see them understanding. I just have to make a nice, thorough presentation,” he says.
He wants this procedure because he thinks appearance always matters the most.
“If I look good and I go and talk to people in general – it doesn’t have to be the opposite sex – I’ll have a much more positive experience,” he says. “It’s a lot of money, but for me it’s worth it.”
Gn entert
