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'Mad Mike' Hughes Was a Daredevil First, Flat Earther Second
Interesting article. Has much more on the flight and crash than I'd seen elsewhere.
From https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/939nnz/mad-mike-hughes-was-a-daredevil-first-flat-earther-second
'Mad Mike' Hughes Was a Daredevil First, Flat Earther Second
The man best known for his mission to launch himself into the sky to prove the earth was flat died in a rocket crash this weekend, and left behind questions about his beliefs.
By Mack Lamoureux
Feb 25 2020, 10:38am
[...]
Hughes's flat earth bonafides seem to be up in the air following his death, however. In his conversation with VICE in 2018, Hughes was adamant that he didn’t believe the earth was round. He wanted to see for himself and said, “if I go up and it's a globe, I'm going to tell you it's a globe.” Furthermore, in his Facebook post, Stakes said his friend “was a real flat earther” who “had dozens of books on the subject.”
However, after his death, Hughes's publicist Darren Shuster told VICE the entire gimmick was for publicity.
“As his PR rep for 17 years, and privy to hundreds of hours one-on-one, I can say with certainty: He was a great American daredevil,” said Shuster. “While open to the idea of government conspiracies, he was a daredevil who used flat earth publicity to get worldwide attention. It was a PR stunt. We used the attention to get sponsorships and it kept working over and over again. For the sake of Mike’s legacy, it’s time to tell the truth.”
In a Facebook post, Stakes said Shuster “made it all up” and “is totally full of shit.”
[...]
The man best known for his mission to launch himself into the sky to prove the earth was flat died in a rocket crash this weekend, and left behind questions about his beliefs.
By Mack Lamoureux
Feb 25 2020, 10:38am
[...]
Hughes's flat earth bonafides seem to be up in the air following his death, however. In his conversation with VICE in 2018, Hughes was adamant that he didn’t believe the earth was round. He wanted to see for himself and said, “if I go up and it's a globe, I'm going to tell you it's a globe.” Furthermore, in his Facebook post, Stakes said his friend “was a real flat earther” who “had dozens of books on the subject.”
However, after his death, Hughes's publicist Darren Shuster told VICE the entire gimmick was for publicity.
“As his PR rep for 17 years, and privy to hundreds of hours one-on-one, I can say with certainty: He was a great American daredevil,” said Shuster. “While open to the idea of government conspiracies, he was a daredevil who used flat earth publicity to get worldwide attention. It was a PR stunt. We used the attention to get sponsorships and it kept working over and over again. For the sake of Mike’s legacy, it’s time to tell the truth.”
In a Facebook post, Stakes said Shuster “made it all up” and “is totally full of shit.”
[...]
Much more at link.
6 replies
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