Operating from a mega-mansion in the Los Angeles hills, Kirill Bichutsky and his gang of employed disciples spent the last six years making funny shirts. The brand was called Assholes Live Forever and while their messaging didn’t always align with our values, we appreciated their ability to play both sides of every argument and run a successful business doing so. Kirill amassed a cult-like grass roots following, but this was no mom and pop influencer operation. His brand was everywhere, going viral daily and rightfully so since their annual revenue was as an astonishing $30+ million in 2022.
But let’s start at the beginning before we can analyze their end. In 2017, Kirill, then known as “@slutwhisperer” rose to social media fame and much like his influencer counterparts, he was eager to monetize his fan base. After coming up with the name Assholes Live Forever he was able to start selling shirts and hats with the new phrase and much to his surprise it caught like a wild fire.
Along the way, Kirill and his elusive partner Linda Finegold, faced their fair share of detractors. They’ve been deplatformed and deleted from Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube and even eBay for the content of their clothing. At one point, Shopify, the world’s leading marketplace platform, gave them the boot over a candle that Twitter users found offensive. Our editors would like to note that we do not support or condone any anti-Semitic content, but it is important to point out that Kirill is a Russian Jewish immigrant and the candle in question they were selling was called “gingerbread holocaust.” Take that as you will.
They made it easy to hate them if you take what they did at face value. Behind the the smoke and mirrors of their self inflicted chaos, lay a marketing department that rivals titans of their industry. Except it’s just Kirill and Linda telling everyone to deal with it. That’s it. Their strategy of using clothing to commentate on every day society, pop culture and current events is how the brand continued to go viral and sell thousands of shirts daily while facing constant scrutiny. Who are their haters exactly and why do they care so much?
It was easy to track down Kirill’s enemies simply based on the fact that he posts them on his social media like a badge of honor. After speaking to several of them I began to see a common denominator in their disdain for the brand: Kirill is an asshole. The content of his material is divisive, alienating, it glorifies drugs, sex, misogyny and is a form of internet bullying. Let’s not forget this is the same person who has a lifetime ban from Twitter for fat shaming a woman. Yes, Kirill makes it very easy to hate him. But why do so many still support him? So much support that his company takes in tens of millions of dollars a year.
Kirill calls himself an onion. No one person is one dimensional and his fan base sees the full picture instead of individual incidents. Context is important when discussing a brand like Assholes Live Forever. In one breath the brand can market a shirt that says “Shoot tequila not kids” and in the next breath they donate $100,000 to colon cancer research or shut down out a toy store for Christmas to donate toys to a local children’s hospital.
Their fans relate to Kirill’s simple origins. A kid from Russia, raised in New Jersey, that built an empire from ink and fabric. It’s the American dream and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I get it. He’s a sign of hope that anyone, anywhere, can do it, too.
So what’s the big deal? This story seems too good to be true. And it is. Assholes Live Forever is no more. Like everything in today’s society and current social climate if you’re not conforming to mainstream agendas then you will be swallowed whole and ostracized. The brand has changed names and is in the process of changing hands, even though Kirill and Linda are assuring everyone that they’re still staying on.
The new name is Alphas Live Forever. I’ll save my personal opinion about that for a less professional moment.
I’m happy they got their pay day, but it’s just another massive pillar in the fight against the politically correct culture that has been brought down. At this rate, we’re going to have nothing left to joke about and a world without laughter isn’t a place that I want to call home.
