(Web Desk) - A Yemeni social media influencer has gone viral for his good looks, giving him the nickname the "hot Houthi pirate" after he was seen aboard the Iran-backed rebel group's hijacked cargo ship — but that's not what he wants his fans to focus on.
With his mop of messy hair, 19-year-old Rashid Al Haddad has drawn comparisons to actor Timothée Chalamet, with one fawning commenter deeming Al Haddad to be "Timhouthi Chalamet."
Al Haddad was "blessed by his gorgeous looks," another wrote while replying to one of his Instagram posts.
"Why do I feel like this is a scene from a fairy world," another user wrote in response to a video of Al Haddad aboard the ship. "I mean that gorgeous face is."
Al Haddad, who boasts 28,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 11,000 followers on X, now claims he's using his influencing for activism.
The newfound social media sensation said he's using his platform to advocate for "a free Palestine" amidst the ongoing Hamas-Israel war.
“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, as he shared photos of an article about him published by Newsweek that dubbed him the "hot Houthi pirate" on Tuesday.
"I hope that my message reaches you, a free Palestine, and we ignite it against the Israeli aggression that violates human rights.”
انا لم اتحدث عن الجمال او عن اي شي اخر وانما قضيتنا فلسطين وليس هذا هو وقت التحدث عن الجمال اتمنى ان توصل رسالتي اليكم فلسطين حره ونحن سنشعلها على العدوان الإسرائيلي الذي ينتهك حقوق الإنسان #راشد_الحداد pic.twitter.com/9h0i9cLCDa
— راشد الحداد (@r42r43) January 16, 2024