‘Hot Houthi pirate’ tells followers to focus on ‘a free Palestine’, not his good looks
A Yemeni social media influencer dubbed the “hot Houthi pirate” has told his admirers to stop gushing over his good looks.
Rashid Al Haddad has gone viral on social media after sharing footage of himself aboard hijacked container ships. Online commenters have nicknamed him “Timhouthi Chalamet”, because of his resemblance to Timothée Chalamet, the American actor.
But he has now asked his tens of thousands of followers to focus their attention on the war in Gaza – not the way he looks.
“I didn’t talk about beauty or anything else, but our cause is Palestine, and this is not the time to talk about beauty,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I hope that my message reaches you, a free Palestine, and we ignite it against the Israeli aggression that violates human rights.”
Mr Al Haddad has shared multiple videos of himself and other young men aboard the Bahamian-flagged, Japan-chartered Galaxy Leader container ship, which was first boarded by the Houthis on Nov 19.
The ship’s 25 crew members remain in captivity, while the Iranian-backed rebels have opened up the vessel for tour groups.
Other men in the videos taken by Mr Al Haddad from on board the ship appear to be filming and taking photos, having approached it on a small wooden skiff.
They are part of a wider phenomenon of documenting the Red Sea conflict online, where Houthi pirates have routinely posted videos of their raids on the Telegram messaging app and Yemeni politicians and military leaders share their speeches on social media platforms.
Britain’s Royal Navy and the United States navy have showcased their efforts to safeguard shipping lanes in the region, sporadically posting images of sailors responding to missile and drone attacks.
One US captain has even documented his time onboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower by posing with cookies during his downtime.
Mr Al Haddad first posted footage from the vessel on his Instagram on Nov 29 and has since regularly reshared videos from the car carrier.
He has described himself as “ready for sacrifice and eager for martyrdom” and said the Houthis “will bomb all Israeli ships”.
Mr Al Haddad has also posed in photos posted on social media which show him wearing brown khaki webbing and others with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.
Not a genuine Houthi pirate
But he does not appear to be a genuine Houthi pirate and has not shared any footage of the actual hijacking of the Galaxy Leader or from aboard any other vessels.
He describes himself on Threads – Meta’s rival to X – as a “media personality, actor and photographer”.
Mr Al Haddad has 27,000 followers on Instagram and 10,000 on X. He has amassed thousands of likes and views on TikTok and Instagram.
Some of his followers have made art depicting him, while one has even set up a fan account on X.
The Houthi pirates have wrought chaos on international shipping in the Red Sea since the war in Gaza began.
Britain and the United States led a series of Western air strikes on their positions in Yemen last week.
Joe Biden said the Houthis “endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways” and the strikes were “a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel”.
