Alongside Jay from the Inbetweeners and a YouTuber pretending to be Jesus Christ, Nigel Farage is a smash hit on Cameo. He has charged a total of at least £374,893 for his videos since he joined the platform five years ago, making an average of about three a day. ‌But a new investigation by the Guardian has found that some of the recordings have a darker side, with the Reform UK leader selling videos in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, repeated extremist slogans and supported a man convicted over his involvement in a far-right riot. ‌Cameo, an app that allows the public to pay celebrities, actors and sportspeople to record a custom video message, is certainly part of the answer. ‌Got a relative’s birthday coming up? Farage will record a clip for aunt Janine wishing her well. Does your friend need a pep talk after a nasty breakup? Farage will send a short motivational speech to cheer them up. For a fee, of course – £71 at the time of writing. ‌And earlier this year, a Guardian reader contacted Henry to highlight a trend in Farage’s Cameo videos, which he thought he should investigate further. ‌Along with Michael Goodier, from our data team, they were able to analyse 4,366 clips that Farage had uploaded since he joined the platform in 2021. By looking at the publicly available source code in each video, they realised that they could also see the requests – or prompts – to which the former Ukip leader was responding while making the recordings. A spokesperson for the Reform UK leader told us: “Mr Farage has recorded many thousands of videos for genuine supporters to celebrate weddings, congratulate friends or send novelty messages. At that scale, the occasional mistake can occur.” They said that Farage’s Cameo videos “should not be treated as political statements or campaign activity” and added: “He has long been clear in his opposition to extremism and political violence.” They also said that it was out of Farage’s control if others “misuse or repurpose” a Cameo recording. On the morning our investigation was published, Farage was making Cameo videos. “So, you know, he’s very active,” says Henry. “Farage’s use of social media is deliberate and thoughtful. And I think that is one of the lenses through which to look at this is: ‘what can you get Farage to say for money?’ And, if he’ll say this for money, what would he say for power?” For the full video explainer, you can tap the link in bio