Rubén Gisbert, a Spanish lawyer and journalist, deliberately soiled himself on Monday before speaking, in front of the camera, about the floods and damage in Catarroja (Valencia), one of the most affected regions. He was fired.
Published on 05/11/2024 15:45
Reading time: 2min
A video quickly goes viral on social networks, six days after deadly floods in Spain, particularly in the Valencia region. In images filmed by a resident of Catarroja, near Valencia, a journalist Rubén Gisbert prepares to go live for a TV channel. Minutes before logging in, man throws himself into the mud “to exaggerate the situation” yet dramatic, according to El Confidencial. General indignation on social networks.
Lawyer, jurist and activist on YouTube and social networks, Rubén Gisbert covered the consequences of the floods for the “Horizonte” program of Iker Jiménez, known host and producer. He publicly expressed his rejection of this practice, affirming that it had surprised him a lot, that it was not a command word, reports El Confidencial. “I will take action”writes the host on X before dismissing Rubén Gisbert.
Rubén Gisbert defends himself and in turn testifies on social networks in video. The activist calls it a smear campaign, and claims to have covered himself in mud to create continuity with the previous sequence where he was in a garage with mud up to his knees, so that it would not seem strange.
But Rubén Gisbert is already linked to several controversies. According to El Confidencial, the activist is accused of Russian propaganda after taking a trip to eastern Ukraine and claiming that Zelensky's government was committing a “ethnic cleansing in Donbass” with the weapons it receives from Western countries. He was prosecuted in Spain for disinformation and hate crime, but the cases were closed.
Rubén Gisbert is also one of the faces of the demonstrations a year ago against the amnesty law in Spain. This law allows the return of separatists still in exile after the 2017 secession attempt.
