A video featuring French fitness and bodybuilding influencer Alexis Icarus recently went viral for all the wrong reasons.
Alexis, who claims to weigh 195 pounds and be 6 ft 5 in tall, is a popular figure in social media’s “looksmaxxing” community, with 133,000 followers on Instagram.
“Looksmaxxing” is an online self-improvement trend hyper-focused on maximizing physical attractiveness using DIY tactics and diet.
The video, which started circulating on June 8, 2026, and has amassed more than 30 million views since then, showed Alexis sitting in the subway allegedly trying to “mog” a fellow passenger — another internet term meaning to outshine someone in appearance.
The video, which drew more criticism than support, is not currently visible on Alexis’s Instagram account.
“Looking a mess trying to gain validation online,” one netizen commented.
“Looksmaxxer” Alexis Icarus allegedly filmed himself “mogging” a fellow passenger
Alexis Icarus started posting “looksmaxxing” and bodybuilding content on Instagram in November 2024.
Most of his posts and videos have been about his fitness journey, on how he went from 158 pounds to his current physique in 1.5 years, allegedly using unprocessed whole foods and no steroids.
In the caption of one video, he revealed that the goal of his “looksmaxxing” efforts has “always been to look like an anime character” and compared himself with Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: “If they plan on doing it in real life, I’m there for the casting.”
In late May 2026, Alexis shared a few posts of himself riding the Subway in France.
In the video that later went viral, he wore a black vest, gray pants, and white shoes, with a backpack and earphones.
He was sitting very close to another man, wearing jeans, a brick-red t-shirt, and white shoes, who was busy looking at his phone. Alexis was seen grooving to the background music in the clip and occasionally fixing his hair.
At one point, the other man briefly looked up at the camera, noticing he was being recorded.
Netizens blasted Alexis Icarus for “harassing” the other man
While some of his followers initially left positive comments under the video, Alexis was soon called out as the post gained more traction for sharing “embarrassing” content for “self-validation” and also for breaching the other passenger’s privacy.
“How insecure do you have to be to need to constantly compare your looks with random people?” one person wrote. Another said, “Looksmaxxers have an inflated sense of ego.”
“This just screams insecure bully, who just wants anyone to tell them they’re hot because their looks are the only thing that they kinda have going for them,” said a third.
“He’s invading someone’s privacy; he probably hasn’t asked him before uploading this video,” speculated a fourth commenter.
“I would be so mad if a stranger started bouncing beside me when there are other places to sit down,” wrote one more.
“Why is he sitting almost on the other guy’s lap when there’s so much space on the other side?” joked another.
Some thought that the video was fake, made using generative AI.
Fellow “looksmaxxer” called Alexis Icarus out over “elitist bullying”
Alexis Icarus was slammed not only by netizens but also by fellow “looksmaxxers” online.
Adam Stickley, better known as Baby Stickley and with 1 million Instagram followers, called out Alexis in a video.
“I don’t usually come on here and talk badly about anyone,” Stickley started. “But standing for your morals also means standing against bullsh*t like this.”
“6 ft 5 (in) good-looking guy on a train, free seat right next to him, but instead, he squeezes up against an older, smaller man, manspreads all over him, encroaching on his personal space, and dances around, mocking him, for views.”
“You can see [the other passenger] knows he’s being recorded and he obviously feels very uncomfortable,” Stickley added. “This is disgusting.”
“The black pill notion is the idea that your looks determine your quality of life, and if you look bad, it’s over for you, and if you look great, your life’s going to be great,” he continued.
Life is hierarchical pic.twitter.com/vu3rk07BhD
— N I M B ❂ (@Nimbopill) June 7, 2026
“So, if the black pill is so true, why does a 6-ft 5 (in) ‘chad’ need to bully a random stranger on a train just to feel good about himself?”
“Since when is self-improvement genetic elitist bullying disguised as humor or ‘mogging’… There is nothing admirable about [the video]. It’s not cool, it’s not aspirational,” Stickley concluded.
“Middle school bully behavior.” Citizens condemned Alexis Icarus for allegedly trying to “mog” fellow passenger on a subway
