AC360 EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Reddit troll Michael Brutsch

An interview with Michael Brutsch will air on tomorrow’s Anderson Cooper 360°. Brutsch will speak with CNN’s Drew Griffin about being Reddit’s biggest troll and his firing after being exposed as “Violentacrez,” a commenter and moderator of sexual and offensive sections on Reddit, including Jailbait, a section dedicated to sexual or suggestive content featuring minors.

Below are sound bites from the interview –



GRIFFIN: ANDERSON OUTED YOU WITHOUT SAYING YOUR NAME A YEAR AGO, RIGHT? YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THEN. IS THE ONLY REASON YOUR’E STOPPING BECAUSE WE NOW KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

BRUTSCH: YES. I MEAN THAT IS, YOU KNOW, VIOLENTACREZ IS WHAT I DID IN MY SPARE TIME TO UNWIND FROM MY 10-HOUR-A-DAY JOB. THAT’S HOW I RELAXED IN THE EVENING. I NO LONGER NEED TO RELAX IN THE EVENING, BECAUSE I NO LONGER HAVE A JOB. THAT AND THE FACT THAT THE CURTAIN’S BEEN PULLED BACK AND EVERYONE CAN SEE THE PUPPETEER…THAT AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE, AS WITH THE RAPE AND PREGNANT REDDITS, I HAVE COME AROUND OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS TO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME OF THESE THINGS CAN BE HARMFUL TO OTHER PEOPLE.

DREW GRIFFIN: ARE YOU APOLOGIZING FOR WHAT YOU DID OR TRYING TO MAKE AN EXCUSE FOR WHAT YOU DID?

MICHAEL BRUTSCH: WELL, I AM TO SOME DEGREE APOLOGIZING FOR WHAT I DID. AGAIN, I WAS PLAYING TO AN AUDIENCE OF COLLEGE KIDS. TWO YEARS AGO, WHEN ALL OF THIS WAS AT ITS HEIGHT, THE AUDIENCE WAS APPRECIIATIVE AND SUPPORTIVE OF THE SORT OF GALLOWS HUMOR THAT I PUT OUT THERE.

GRIFFIN: DID YOU GET A THRILL OUT OF THAT?

BRUTSCH: WELL, HONESTLY, THE BIGGEST THRILL I GOT WAS THOSE MEANINGLESS INTERNET POINTS.

MICHAEL BRUTSCH: FOR THOSE FIRST TWO YEARS, I HAD BEEN TASKED MY REDDIT ADMINS WITH MAKING CERTAIN THAT THERE WAS NO OVERT OR REAL CHILD PORN: NO NAKED CHILDREN, NO NAKED TEENAGERS, NO CHILDREN IN SWIMSUITS. JAILBAIT WAS MATURE TEENAGERS WITH THEIR CLOTHES ON. OR WITH THEIR NAUGHTY BITS COVERED. THEY DEPENDED ON ME TO MAKE SURE THINGS WERE WITHIN THE RULES AND THINGS WERE WITHIN THE LINES.

DREW GRIFFIN: THEY, MEANING REDDIT?

BRUTSCH: THE ADMINS THEMSSELVES.

GRIFFIN: THE PROBLEM IS, THE KIDS, THE TEENAGERS, THE PICTURES…WEREN’T YOURS?

BRUTSCH: THAT IS CORRECT.

GRIFFIN: YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHO THOSE KIDS WERE?

BRUTSCH: NO. AND NEITHER DID ANYONE ELSE.

GRIFFIN: THOSE KIDS DID

BRUTSCH: WELL, THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

Please credit all usage to Anderson Cooper 360°.

The full interview will air Thursday on Anderson Cooper 360° airing at 8 & 10pm ET on CNN.