KSI Calls Out Misogyny as Teenage Mistakes

has dismissed potentially damaging social media posts in which he is seen joking about rape and violent assault against women as teenage 'mistakes.' 

The London based influencer, boxer and TV personality, real name Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, has enjoyed enormous mainstream success since launching his career under his former username, JideJunior, in 2008.

Such is his popularity that Simon Cowell was encouraged to sign him as the latest addition to the judging panel in 2025, giving him a primetime platform and a new legion of young fans. 

But distasteful clips of the 32-year-old cracking misogynistic jokes about rape and claiming he would rather 'punch the baby' than practice safe sex have undermined his reputation and threatened his current role on Saturday night TV. 

Playing down the furore during an interview with The Times, KSI claimed the offending posts, recorded between 2012 and 2017, were the result of naivety. 

'A lot of my old, old content was very, very cringe,' he said. 'I didn’t know what the internet was going to be, I was young and I was living in my own little bubble. 

'Throughout my life I’ve made mistakes, but as long as you learn from them you can become better.' 

Away from the gloss of reality TV and social media, KSI - an acronym, standing for Knowledge, Strength, Integrity - has established himself as an astute businessman, . 

Sports promotion company Misfits Boxing, a partnership with his long-term manager Mams Taylor and promoters Kalle and Nisse Sauerland, has also raised his profile across boxing and mixed martial arts. 

In March, KSI purchased a minority stake in struggling football club Dagenham & Redbridge, currently plying their trade in the semi-professional National League South, with a view to replicating the success of Welsh side Wrexham by monetising his takeover in a documentary series. 

And it is this willingness to learn from his initial notoriety that KSI believes has set him apart from other young male influencers, notably Harrison Sullivan, aka HSTikkyTokky - the subject of Louis Theroux's recent Netflix documentary about the manosphere.

'Someone like HS, he just doesn’t care. For him it’s all about the money,' he said of the influencer, who he has known for years. 

'I know what I can do to get a ton of views but I don’t need to do that. There’s the low-hanging fruit but I don’t go for it because I realised that if you’re just yourself, that’s enough. 

'If you bring positivity you might not get the initial views, but you’re building a foundation that can grow, and as opposed to doing the short-term thing, I feel like my route is a lot more fruitful.'  

He added: 'I can’t look in the mirror, doing crazy stuff like you saw HS doing, and feel good about myself. I’ve got a backbone, I’ve got limits. 

'Because the older I’ve got, the more I’ve understood how influential I am. My audience see me as a role model, so I have to set a good example.'