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Anthime Joseph Gionet (born November 16, 1987), more commonly known as Baked Alaska, is an American neo-Nazi, anti-semitic conspiracy theorist, and social media personality who gained attention through his advocacy on behalf of alt-right and white supremacist ideology, and through his promotion of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories such as white genocide and Jewish control of the media. Prior to his 2016 transformation into an alt-right activist, Gionet was a commentator for BuzzFeed, where he supported libertarian and progressive political positions and marched in support of Black Lives Matter.

At the beginning of 2019, Gionet claimed to have abandoned the alt-right and attempted to distance himself from it; however, in November 2019, Gionet changed his politics again, professing far-right ideology and collaborating with the white nationalist Groyper movement. He then gained notoriety for his livestreams, in which he would harass or assault bystanders, resulting in an assault charge in December 2020. In January 2021, Gionet livestreamed the storming of the U.S. Capitol building, in a violation of his release. It was later reported that Gionet's footage was used by the FBI to identify suspects.

Education

Gionet attended Azusa Pacific University and graduated with a B.S. in marketing.

Early career

While working at Warner Bros. Records, Gionet was social media and marketing intern for Warped Tour. Kevin Lyman gave him the stage-name Baked Alaska, a reference to the fact that he came from Alaska and was a marijuana user at the time, referencing the dessert, baked Alaska. In 2011, Gionet worked for Capitol Records for a short time, before pursuing his own career in rap music with a "wild, redneck, kick-ass" persona. While in Los Angeles, he got involved in the party scene and had issues with drugs and alcohol, leading him to seek professional help to get sober.

Political activism

In the following years he started working as a social media strategist, and later commentator, for Buzzfeed. He then identified as a libertarian, supporting Rand Paul's White House bid and the legalisation of marijuana, and participating in Black Lives Matter street demonstrations. He claims to have left Buzzfeed and turned to the politics of Donald Trump and the alt-right in rejection of "political correctness". After leaving BuzzFeed in 2016, Gionet traveled as Milo Yiannopoulos' Dangerous Faggot Tour manager. In May 2016, Gionet was introduced to then-candidate Trump, and received his signature next to Gionet's Trump tattoo. Later that month, Gionet released "MAGA Anthem", which featured pro-Trump lyrics and amassed more than 100,000 views on YouTube. Mike Cernovich then hired Gionet to work on a project dedicated to gather Trump supporters. Following the 2016 United States presidential election, Gionet continued his pro-Trump activism delivering speeches and participating in multiple rallies.

Gionet was also known for spearheading the #DumpKelloggs and #TrumpCup hashtag campaigns. #TrumpCup was a Twitter trend in November 2016; following allegations that a Starbucks employee refused to write "Trump" on a cup, Gionet began a campaign instructing patrons to claim their name was "Trump", forcing baristas to write it. The hashtag trended with more than 27,000 tweets in the span of two days. #DumpKelloggs was an attempted boycott in response to Kellogg's pulling ads from Breitbart.

In late 2016, conflict arose between Cernovich and Gionet regarding Gionet's antisemitic remarks on Twitter - of the media being "run in majority by Jewish people". Gionet was disinvited from DeploraBall, an unofficial inaugural ball for the alt-right. Gionet later mended his relationship with Cernovich, said that he had been "heated", and that he had misspoken.

In February 2017, Gionet called for a boycott of Netflix in response to the announcement of Dear White People. He claimed that the show was "anti-white" and promoted "white genocide". In July 2017, Gionet wrote and self-published a book, Meme Magic Secrets Revealed, through Amazon. The book was removed as a copyright violation due to its use of Pepe the Frog on the cover. Also that year, Gionet participated in an alt-right rally outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, and later addressed participants at the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2017, where a counter-protestor was killed. At the Unite the Right rally, he marched and chanted, "You will not replace us," "Hitler did nothing wrong," and "I'm proud to be white".

On social media, Gionet has frequently promoted the Fourteen Words, a white supremacist slogan for preserving the white race. He was permanently banned from Twitter after posting a photoshopped image of Laura Loomer, a Jewish far-right political commentator, inside a gas chamber.

Since 2016, Gionet has frequently changed his political ideology, and has on various occasions oscillated between far-right ideology and anti-racist progressivism. After years of promoting white nationalist and alt-right politics, in March 2019, Gionet attempted to rebrand himself as a reformed ex-racist, who had come to recognize that the alt-right and meme culture were hateful and led to terrorism and violence. He released an emotional video apologizing for his past participation in meme culture, and stated: “I was brainwashed, I felt like I was part of a cult.” Gionet also alleged a link between meme culture and the Christchurch mosque shootings, and warned of conservatives being radicalized to the far-right. In the course of his attempted rebranding, Gionet claimed in an interview with The Daily Beast that he was never serious about far-right politics, and thought that the alt-right "was just fun memes and jokes and edgy 4chan posting," until he "got to the end of this rabbit hole and realized these guys are serious." Gionet purportedly abandoned his support for President Trump, and began promoting 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, such as in his rap music video "Yang Gang Anthem".

Without finding success in this rebranding, Gionet relocated to Phoenix, Arizona by July 2019, and began livestreaming at a left-wing protest; alternately pretending to be a reporter and protestor, antagonizing journalists, and inciting protestors on camera. Thereafter, Gionet became known for his livestreams, in which he often filmed himself committing crimes and harassing bystanders at the whims of his audience. In November 2019, Gionet officially reverted his politics, deleting his apology videos and collaborating with the white nationalist Groyper movement in its 'trolling' of Turning Point USA rallies. In the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Gionet would film himself trespassing on privately owned establishments that require the wearing of face coverings, while refusing to wear one. He would mock employees of these establishments for wearing masks, and refuse to leave when told to do so.

Arrests

Gionet was arrested in multiple livestreamed instances of trespassing and assault, including macing a bouncer in Scottsdale, Arizona, in December 2020. Gionet was reportedly paid tens of thousands of dollars by Internet viewers who found his conduct amusing, or agreed with the political messages; he was eventually banned from YouTube for his repeated illegal conduct.

On January 6, 2021, Gionet participated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol building in support of President Trump. A few weeks earlier, he had posted on social media that he had contracted COVID-19. Due to bans from other platforms, Gionet livestreamed his actions inside the Capitol building on DLive; DLive later suspended several accounts, removed broadcasts, and suspended earnings of those who participated in the Capitol riot, including Gionet's. After being arrested a month earlier for assault, a condition of Gionet's release was that he remained in Arizona. Prosecutors summoned Gionet for violating his release conditions. On January 13th, it was reported that Gionet's livestream was being used by the FBI to identify and track down suspects inside the Capitol building, some of whom Gionet interviewed. Gionet didn't appear for a January 14, 2021 hearing in Scottsdale, Arizona in which prosecutors aimed to revoke his pre-trial release, which was granted after he was arrested in December 2020 on a misdemeanor assault charge after allegedly attacking a bouncer at a bar. Prosecutors argued that Gionet's attendance of the events in Washington, D.C., and alleged trespassing into the Capitol building violated his bail conditions, which required him to stay in Arizona and abide by the law. An Arizona judge issued a warrant for Gionet's arrest after he breached his bail conditions. He was arrested on January 16, 2021.

References

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• 1987 births
• Living people
• Alt-right writers
• American conspiracy theorists
• American neo-Nazis
• BuzzFeed people
• Writers from Anchorage, Alaska
• Azusa Pacific University alumni
• YouTube controversies
• Fugitives wanted by the United States