Anti-vaxxer Piers Corbyn appears to take fake £10,000 from pranksters pretending to be AstraZeneca investors
YouTube pranksters have released a video in which high-profile anti-vaxxer Piers Corbyn appeared to accept a donation of £10,000 while being urged to stop campaigning against the AstraZeneca jab.
In the video, Josh Pieters and Archie Manners explained how they contacted Corbyn to arrange a meeting while posing as AstraZeneca investors.
Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has been extensively campaigning against all vaccines during the pandemic.
In February, he was arrested for distributing leaflets that compared the UK vaccine rollout to the Holocaust.
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In the video, published on Saturday, Pieters said the duo wanted to "put to the test" whether anti-vaxxers like Corbyn are "people of principle".
He added that they offered Corbyn a "dodgy donation" in exchange for focussing his criticism on the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines instead.
Manners also explained that in order to the prank legally, Pieters actually did buy one share in AstraZeneca.
The YouTubers then met Corbyn at a restaurant in Sloane Square in London, filming the encounter using extras and hidden cameras.
Pieters can be heard telling Corbyn that a fund he runs off the back of his family's restaurant business has an interest in AstraZeneca and Corbyn reacts by laughing loudly.
In a voiceover, Pieters said: "Piers didn't seem put off that I made money off AstraZeneca but shared some wacky views on the other vaccines."
Corbyn can be heard saying: "Moderna and Pzifer give those magnetic things, don't they? Well that is very very scary."
Manners later shows Corbyn a wad of cash and the anti-vaxxer can be heard saying: "Wow".
But he then goes on to say that he can only accept the money if there's no "insistence" that he has to change his policies.
The pranksters persist with Manners saying: "We appreciate we're not asking for a change of policy or anything but if there is anything that can be done to focus a bit more on Pfizer and Moderna."
"That would be helpful for us," Pieters interjects.
Corbyn can later be heard saying: "yeah" in response to their request for AstraZeneca to be ignored.
Pieters' girlfriend Ellie then comes up to the table and asks Corbyn for a photograph.
As they're taking a selfie, a friend of Manners' approaches the table and switches the envelope full of real banknotes with one filled with fake notes from the board game Monopoly.
The group then agree that Corbyn will say the money comes from a restaurant businessman and not directly from AstraZeneca.
Corbyn then says a focus on Pfizer and Moderna will "happen anyway without any interference".
He adds: "That'll be fair", as they continued to talk about him easing his criticism of the AstraZeneca jab.
Yahoo News UK has contacted Corbyn for comment.
The YouTubers have previously released a video revealing they hoaxed Baskin into doing the interview by pretending to work for Jimmy Fallon and his late-night show.
They also tricked four royal experts into giving an analysis of Oprah's interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry before they'd even watched it.
