Acclaimed documentarian Louis Theroux has identified the worst individual he's ever encountered during his extensive filmmaking career. Over three decades, Louis has explored a wide range of contentious subjects.
During this time, he has produced two documentaries about one of Britain's most infamous figures, Jimmy Savile - a paedophile whom Louis now labels as the worst person he has ever met, reports the Mirror.
Louis’ first film about Savile, When Louis Met Jimmy, was made in 2000, before Savile's appalling crimes became public knowledge. He revisited the subject in 2016 with Louis Theroux: Savile, reflecting on his earlier encounter and the shocking revelations that followed.
In conversation with LadBible about why Savile is the worst person he's ever met, Louis said: "My mind tends to go to Jimmy Savile, basically because when I met him, I was making a documentary about him—his crimes had not been discovered.
"So it's that strange dissonance of later finding out that he'd done these dreadful things, that he'd been a serial sex offender, and not knowing at the time.
"But he's well advertised as probably the worst VIP predator, or person in the public eye who was a predator, certainly of recent times."
Louis has previously discussed his interactions with Savile. In a 2019 interview with the Irish Times, he admitted to feeling "strange feelings of guilt and responsibility" for having allowed himself to view Savile in a more amicable light during professional encounters in the year or two after filming.
He elaborated: "It was during that time that, without the presence of the camera, and in a more relaxed atmosphere, I sort of began to think of him in a more friendly way.
"So later on, when it came out that he'd been abusing and assaulting men and women, boys and girls, that was what my mind turned to—the sense that I'd allowed myself to think of him in a friendly way."
In 2022, Louis told the Big Issue that he continues to reflect on his guilt for not questioning Savile more thoroughly at the time, noting that he would have wanted to hold Savile accountable if possible: "I'd prefer to focus on the dignity of the survivors.
"So if I could facilitate some kind of act of holding him to account that involved some of the victims, that would mean something to me."
Louis’ remarks about the worst individual he has ever met coincide with the release of his latest project, Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, on Netflix.
