Downloaded from YTS.BZ
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[man clearing throat]
[tense music building]
[Zyzz] How you going loyal Zyzz fans?
Sup, brah? Zyzz in the house, brah!
Gonna have a little word with all of y'all.
Hello and welcome to 4chan, this is Zyzz.
That's Zyzz! Not fucking Zeez, brah!
A few things I want to say. First things first -
I'm fucking God. Alright?
I'm fucking aesthetic.
See this fucking hair, brah.
Jawline, brah.
Fucking beautiful, brah.
[Said VO] Back before the algorithm was a thing,
there was Zyzz.
[Zyzz] How do you become a sick cunt, but?
You go to the gym, you lift weights,
you get tats, you fuck bitches!
That's all you got to fucking do cunt!
[Said VO] Behind that persona was my little brother Aziz,
with his webcam in his bedroom.
[gentle music]
[Said VO] Aziz wanted to be loved.
But Zyzz? He wanted fame - even if it meant being hated.
Everyone has a little bit of Zyzz in them.
Every fucking cunt out there.
You're a fucking sick cunt if you wanna be, brah.
Stop being a fucking sad cunt, alright?
In life, if you want to be noticed,
you've gotta be a fucking ripped cunt.
You've gotta be a shredded cunt...
[Said VO] By age of 21,
he had amassed a legion of fans online.
Zyzz is a fucking revolution, brah. We're taking over.
[Said VO] Within a year...
...he was gone.
[Said VO] It's been 15 years,
and I have people asking me all the time about what happened.
[Aziz on video] Alright, brah - we're live,
in Casa de Zyzz.
A fucking sexy house.
[Said VO] I don't really talk about it.
Respecting the wishes of my family - my parents.
That's just - that's how it's been.
[gentle music]
[Said VO] But now, it's time.
The true story needs to be told.
Az was always honest.
I want to do the same.
[urgent music]
[TV reporter] Before the 'Tok, before the 'Gram,
before even YouTube got popular, there was Zyzz.
[Phillip] People parted like the fucking sea and looked.
Everyone was like - [gasping]
[Paolo] It was like spotting like, the rarest Pokémon card.
[Aziz] Come at me, brah.
People were just mesmerised.
[loud dance music]
[Amelia] He was literally like the coolest kid on the block.
If we get a photo, then we were automatically cool by default.
[YouTuber] He really did start the whole aesthetic era.
[YouTuber] He changed internet culture forever.
You mad?
[YouTuber] He grew up this tiny little beanpole.
Three years later,
he looked like a fucking Dragon Ball Z character.
[YouTuber] There was a phenomenon going on here
that is separate from the guy's physique.
He understood the power of the internet.
[TV reporter] A multi-billion-dollar industry,
more than half of Gen Z now aspire
to become social media influencers.
[Paola] In Australia he had an online presence that no one had.
Back then, there was no such thing as influencers.
Az was the first one to do that.
This content that he's created
inspired young men all over the world.
[Bullet Man] These guys all loved him,
because he was one of them.
[various foreign language voice overs]
[YouTuber] It has actually become a religion
to some people.
[YouTuber] When they needed inspiration,
they needed motivation -
Zyzz just fucking appears, bro.
[upbeat dance music]
[Said VO] That level of fame was wild.
It was crazy to witness.
[Paola] He wasn't fully capable of dealing with
how quick that fame hit him.
[tense music]
[Phillip] We thought we had everything figured out.
Nothing's going to stop this thing.
You mirin'?
New haircut, brah.
[YouTuber] Zyzz based his whole life and persona
around the way he looked, and he cut corners.
[Paolo] Like they see someone who's young, outgoing,
says what he wants - they get the shits.
They go, "Who's this guy think he is?"
"Come at me, brah!" What the fuck?
You're a wanker!
[Shaun] He'd always say stuff like,
"Haters gonna hate", you know?
[Phillip] Now, there are much more polarising figures.
[laughing]
[Phillip] Some people would write him off altogether.
But he represents something that a lot of young guys relate to.
[YouTuber] Love him or hate him, his impact is being felt now.
[YouTuber] If a million guys improve their lives
because of this guy, do the ends justify the means?
[Paolo] He told me, "I'm going to Thailand".
I'm like, "This is not a good idea".
[Aziz on video] Yeah, brah.
[Paolo] He was not in the right mindset to be going there.
He was supposed to come home two days later.
[YouTuber] He always said, "We're all going to make it".
"We're all going to make it, brahs".
We're all gonna fucking make it, brah. That's it!
[Said] There's orders every day going out,
quite a lot of orders every day.
Anywhere and everywhere, um,
even in some of the most remote countries in the world -
I think I had an order in Botswana last year,
which I thought was like, super interesting.
This is one of the more popular designs.
It's half of Aziz's face on the left side,
and on the right side is my face.
I'll go ahead and I'll pack that,
along with a note.
"Stay shredded".
I mean, we should have been doing this together,
but I'm keeping that flame alive,
and I'm keeping the spirit going.
[Said] What is good guys?
I am looking to work with men -
to optimise their health, their fitness, their training.
If this is you, DM the word 'Coach'...
Eat you ten meals a day...
[Said VO] You know I'm in the space of fitness and health
to motivate people
into changing their life, into being their true selves.
I've realised that over the years - having a nice physique
can attract and command so much respect
and so much attention.
No one understood this better than Aziz.
He cracked the code way back in high school.
That's where it all began.
[tense music]
[Paolo] I was around 16 when I first met him.
He's like, "Come over, come over".
I went to his house.
His mum answered the door.
[knocking]
[Paolo] Opened the door, like opened it a little bit
with like, "Hello, who are you?"
[Paolo] And then straight away she was like, "Get out!"
And then I'm like, "No, I'm here for Az".
And then he ran out and was like,
"No, no, that's my friend".
[computer beeping]
[Paolo] He was very sheltered. I realised this very quickly.
[Shaun] Me and Said went to the same high school.
I eventually met his brother going to his house.
He had this pale skin, quite skinny, big nose.
His teeth out like this.
He's kind of like this dorky guy.
I mean, I'm the dorky guy, but he's even dorkier.
[computer beeping]
[Shaun] Yeah, the friendship really grew from there.
I met Shaun at Macquarie University,
we were studying psychology together.
We just became friends.
[computer beeping]
[Shahida] Az would have been about 17, he was still a kid.
Just a normal teenager.
He really looked up to his brother
and they were quite close.
[Said] There was a little bit of an age gap,
we were like three years apart,
but it was more like a best friend
than looking after a baby brother.
We did like, everything together.
[Said VO] We were always like experimenting with,
like with our look, with our hair, with our fashion.
My hair was fucking blond and I had a little goatee.
It was weird, I looked like Kurt Cobain.
And then Az had like, jet black hair
with a little skunk blond streak at the front.
We just saw ourselves as video game characters
and we just wanted to keep being
the main character of our, of our game.
[Shaun] He was bullied a little bit.
He had this great personality,
but people would comment on his nose, his body,
whatever it might be.
Yeah, I think that weighed on him a little bit.
See you later.
[Shahida] Aziz was shy.
He was not happy with the way he looked.
Comparing himself to Western ideals of beauty.
Even as a child, you can take a lot of those things onboard
without really realising it.
[gentle music]
[Shahida] With a lot of first generation Australians,
he thought, why do I look different
to everybody else around me.
[Paolo] Their parents were like full traditional,
old school, like Russian Kurdish.
I'm going to make the money.
You guys study and do me proud and become doctors.
[Said] To provide for us - they were doing overtime,
like almost every day.
They had to learn English and to raise two crazy children.
It was hard, but you know, they did the best they could.
[Said] Me and Az would like go home from school together.
We'll just spend all the time together,
just playing video games, watching TV,
until our parents got home.
They thought that there's food in the fridge -
as long as we were home, what can go wrong?
Yeah, the internet.
[dial-up internet sound]
I do remember the old sound.
[chuckling]
[imitates dial-up noise].
[chuckling]
[TV reporter] 2006 was the year the social web broke through.
Broadband is fuelling the popularity
of video sharing sites, with YouTube leading the charge.
[TV reporter] Every day 60,000 video clips
are loaded onto the site, from anyone and anywhere,
giving millions their 15 seconds of fame.
[Paolo] Online, he could get away with anything.
[Shaun] It was like his entry to the world.
[Said] YouTube was super new back then.
It had only been around for like two years.
He filmed himself.
At the time I don't think there was really a reason.
He just literally just did it for fun.
He knew it was weird but he didn't care,
and I was just like, "Okay".
[dance music playing]
[Said] It was liberating for him.
[music continues]
[Said] 'Cause, school was so restrictive.
He was looking for an escape and he found that.
[song playing] "Tonight is the night"
[Said] There was one forum in particular
called bodybuilding.com - 'Misc Forum'.
We kind of like gave ourselves an identity on there.
[Shaun] Yeah, my screen name was 'babolimp'
or just 'babo', people would call me.
Which is Korean for 'stupid'.
[chuckling]
[Shaun] And Aziz was 'Zyzz'.
[Shaun] He started off posting his own pictures online,
his own little videos online.
[Aziz on video] You're going to be a YouTube superstar.
[woman] Okay.
He loved it as a bit of a glow up for himself.
You could kind of put things out there
and see what people loved and what people hated.
[crowd chattering loudly]
[Shaun] He first learned the shuffle
and then he added in like these other moves -
like this Tektonik kind of stuff.
We'd go to these raves or festivals
and he'd just blow everyone away with this dance routine.
[people cheering]
[Shaun] So he made like heaps and heaps of friends
at those events.
But trying to get girls just wasn't happening.
He didn't really understand why.
[Shahida] They would go onto those forums
seeking that sort of advice and knowledge.
That place was like an echo chamber of men/boys
encouraging each other, egging each other on.
[Shahida] There's a lot of stuff there that's really unsavoury -
even for that time.
[Said] He saw the guys that girls are admiring
and looking up to, and want to be with.
These guys seem to get all the respect and everything.
Aziz thought maybe if I put on some muscle, or get stronger,
maybe then people will stop picking at me
and maybe people will respect me more.
Fuck! Well, this is a no brainer,
I've gotta go to the gym.
[Shaun] He'd work out, and you know,
he'd post these videos and pictures and stuff of himself
on bodybuilding.com.
He'd just go in there
and just look at what they were saying about him
and see what people thought.
[slow rhythmic music]
[music building]
[urgent music continues]
[Aziz] Yeah, yeah, yeah...
[urgent techno music continues]
[Shaun] For people to be able to see his real personality,
he had to really change himself physically.
And 'Zyzz' started to form.
[train rattling]
[Shaun on video] I'm recording.
[chattering]
[Shaun on video] I'm doing a video.
Beautiful.
[Shaun] Go, run in there man.
Run in there and do push-ups on the floor.
Come on, man.
Stop showing off and show off in front of the old women.
[Shaun] He always wanted me to record it.
Initially I loved doing it because it was just funny.
[Shaun] Go, run through, do push-ups on the floor,
then run back.
Nah you - ah fuck it. Let's go.
[Shaun] Me! You're topless - it's funny, man.
Come on! You're a pussy.
Come on, do you want to have a funny video or not?
[Shaun] I'd be like, take your shirt off -
go do push-ups in front of these people.
And he'd take his shirt off and be like, "You go do it".
[Shaun] Come on, go do it!
"Nah, I don't want to", and he'd get the heebie jeebies.
[Shaun] Do it! Come on, do it.
[Shaun] But eventually he found,
using this 'Zyzz' persona he could get himself out there,
and do things that this nerdy young kid could not.
He discovered confidence he didn't have before.
And he wanted even more.
[loud dance music]
[Said] It was a magical time.
Zyzz, Chestbrah, Babo.
It was a really good bromance amongst us three -
pushing each other to our max.
[music continues]
[Said] All the positive reinforcement
that came from training - it was addictive.
[woman giggling]
[Shaun] I'd come and pick them up in my beat-up car,
lots of music in the car and rock out.
Go to the gym, five days a week,
up to two hours a day and just have a blast really.
Az was the guy who brought in people.
He was like my best friend for a while -
it felt really special being in his presence.
Then he'd go and be with someone else
and that would be his bum chum for a while.
He'd bring so many people in,
and we'd all mesh together because of him.
He really was like, you know, the glue.
[Phillip] Mid-twenties,
I basically came out of a really crappy relationship.
I made a decision.
I was like, I'm going to throw myself back into the gym
and I'm going to get into the best shape ever,
no matter what - I'm going to get absolutely shredded,
and this is going to solve all my problems.
Fucking sounds so fucking stupid, hey?
[chuckling] [computer beeping]
I had to have seen videos of Az
and I've seen his name floating around in the forums
but I never took notice of it at all.
[George] I was into strongman powerlifting,
that sort of stuff.
So the whole point of you going to the gym is to get stronger
and to better yourself.
If you're going to worry about how you look -
what's wrong with ya?
So this guy in little short shorts,
walking around the gym posing and just acting weird.
[screaming]
[Phillip] He's not really my type of person
that would be my friend.
But I was actually pleasantly surprised,
how friendly and open he was.
[George] Once you talk to the bloke,
it was intelligent conversation.
We ended up just training together.
It became a regular thing.
And it's like, okay this guy's alright.
[George] And we became training partners, basically.
[Shaun on video] This is the rare formation
of the Carlingford Fitness First gym.
You wanna get fucking shredded?
This is the only fucking way to do it.
You need your teammates.
You need your fucking teammates to help you out.
[Paolo] He had a diverse group of friends.
So I'm half Asian, half Aussie.
[George] My background's Greek.
[Paolo] I'm Italian and Dutch.
My Aussie side, their background is German.
Now, it's like, it's cool and sexy to be half Asian.
Back in the 90s it wasn't cool.
Like, I found it hard to fit into cultural groups.
I can imagine that he would've had his hangups as well.
Being Russian background,
but then in Western Sydney,
that's quite different.
The point is we were a mixed bag.
We aligned our values not on our ethnic background,
but the bond and camaraderie of training together
and pushing each other.
That's where we kind of connected.
[Shahida] I thought it was a really positive thing
that they started to go to the gym.
Normally they were just stuck behind
their computer screens all the time.
[low chattering]
[Shaun] We all uplifted each other,
like, physically and, like, kind of emotionally in a sense.
People would ask you, like why are you so dedicated?
It didn't feel like that because it was such a fun environment.
Az went three years without taking a day off.
[George] Az was probably the best training partner
I've actually had in the gym.
I've trained with many people and no one had that drive,
that intensity, the interest for it, the hunger for it.
He just took it to that next level.
[slow tense music]
[Aziz on video] Fuck yeah, brah.
[Shahida] The boys are like constantly talking about
body types and scientific terms.
That type of language from a forum
and they started using that in everyday conversation
and it just caught on.
They were creating that kind of culture
without realising that they were.
[Paolo] He advanced very quickly.
Like, I'd probably never seen someone grow that quickly,
um...
And keep that lean physique.
Yeah, it was, it was a world phenomenon.
I've never seen anyone be able to do that.
[Shaun] It was pretty early into his bodybuilding,
it was only after, maybe in the first year or so.
He just started out-lifting us, like, massively,
like he'd get these gains where he'd put on ten kilos
and about 20 kilos, 30 kilos more.
[Said] Every week we would have like a weigh-off,
or we'd have a scale in front of us and we'd weigh each other.
In one week he's like on 80 - next week, 81.
Week after, 82. Week ten he's hitting 90 kilos.
I'm like, what the fuck?
Like what's going on? I was really confused.
I see what he eats. I see what he lifts.
Like we're doing about the same stuff.
What is he doing that I'm not doing?
But when questioning him, like, obviously,
the answer was always all the time, "I'm natty, bro".
[people chattering]
[Said] I had no fucking idea.
I walked in on him and he had a needle in his bum.
[dramatic music]
[Said] I just looked at him, I'm like,
"Is that what I think it is?"
[dramatic music]
[Phillip] Steroids! Me, personally?
I hadn't injected testosterone or anything back then.
But, I get it.
You do it, you feel amazing, you have better energy,
you have better mental clarity.
There's a hormonal response in the body
so there's endorphins released, you feel even better.
And there's also the pump.
It's an incredible feeling when you're training a body part.
All the blood pushes into that body part
and it feels very full
and you feel temporarily bigger and you feel better.
It's a - it's a majestic feeling.
It's addictive. So it's like, let's do it again tomorrow.
[Phillip] When I met Az, I don't know if he had a long game plan,
but I do know, the bug had bitten.
[urgent techno music]
[Said] I'm like, "Why would you not tell me, of all people?"
And he just like laughed about it and giggled about it.
I felt sad to be honest.
But at the other point I was happy,
because the happy part of me was realising
that I could also do this now.
Motherfucker, why didn't you tell me sooner?
[gentle music]
[Said VO] So many people struggle - like finding purpose.
You know what I mean - finding what it is that they're good at
in this world and doing it for the rest of their life.
I've found that.
A lot of people would be like,
oh, but you're 39, you know, you should slow down.
But I think everything that I do keeps Az's name in reverie,
every win that I have isn't just a win for me,
it's a win for him.
So I don't see myself slowing down any time soon.
[pills rattling]
We're about to go train now so I'm going to get ready.
Okay...
[exhaling]
[Said moaning]
[trainer] Keep going, keep going.
[Said VO] I believe steroids can be done safely.
It just depends on having the right people around you,
having a coach,
and just knowing when to stop.
[Said] End of the day people are going to do it, regardless.
So the best we can do as older role models is
just give the right advice
and also sometimes tell them the negative effects,
the positive effects,
because there's two sides to a coin, the good and the bad.
And then it's up to, you know,
it's up to the young men of today
what they do with that information.
Three, two, and now do your transition and hold.
There...
[Said] He'd be super proud.
It took me my whole life to match his musculature,
but I got there in the end so he'd be proud.
[Said] Yeah...
[Said] Safe as I could have done it, that's the truth.
[people chattering]
This was the first festival I ever went to.
[chattering on phone]
[Shaun chuckling]
[Shaun on video] Wow, strong eyes! Wish I could zoom out.
Let's hear some music, bro, yeah!
Yeah, it just feels like I'm back there again.
[people chattering and hollering]
[cheering loudly]
[upbeat techno music]
[crowd cheering]
[man] Thanks Sydney.
[people chattering]
[Shaun on video] Let's go, baby! Woo!
[Shaun] He thought, he's got like a great looking body,
he wanted to put himself out there.
Took his shirt off. He got down to his -
completely to his underwear.
[Shaun] On the early days, you'd hear that a lot like,
"Put your shirt on! What have you got your shirt off for?"
People would yell that out.
He had to work his way up there to do that.
[Shaun on video] Some unimpressed onlookers?
Whoa! Look at this cunt in his underwear!
[Shaun] But then once he got into the swing of it, um,
yeah people were catcalling, and all this kind of stuff.
He'd get a bit more confident the next time.
[Paolo] Sometimes like, he'd just get shit and be like,
"Fuck you, you stupid wog boy".
Like, when we're out, "Who do you think you are?"
"Oh, those short shorts are for faggots,
why are you wearing those here?"
[Phillip] No one was wearing those little shorts,
like, not if you were straight.
Like, man you wouldn't dare to wear that stuff.
Az wore these and rocked them.
[Paolo] Homophobia, wog-phobia...
but also admiration.
Like they're like, "Hmm, this guy's a bit of a faggot,
but I wouldn't mind looking like that if I wasn't like ethnic
and it was my body".
[Phillip] The following year, they all have the hair style,
and everybody was rocking these shorts.
[Paolo] We'd be like, "Oh, there's a Zyzz copycat".
There were like 10 to 15, like people
that like, would be like, identical.
We'd be like, "What the hell?
"Where does this guy come from?"
But yeah, it'd just be like more and more and more and more.
[Phillip] That's like me wearing like,
all of a sudden wearing hoop earrings
and trying to make it cool. Like, that's impossible.
You gotta be a special person to make that shit catch on.
[TV reporter] February 9, 2009,
Facebook activates the 'like' button.
Likes have become the currency of the internet,
turning every post into a popularity contest.
[people chattering] [techno music playing]
[Aziz on video] Whoa! Get your muzz on!
Do me! My turn. Just hold it. It's already recording.
[woman on video] Oh, you want to record.
[woman] You fucking juicy. You're fucking juicy.
[woman on video saying 'juicy' on a loop]
[computer mouse clicking]
[Shaun] Kind of like
created a bit of a mini following for himself.
He got like a little Facebook fan page of himself.
You'd go to the gym and suddenly the girls would come up,
"Oh, I saw your latest video". And like...
It's like you think it didn't have that much exposure
but actually so many people had seen it.
[Shaun] It was just bigger than we thought.
[man] How's it going everyone?
My name's Pewdiepie.
If you're watching this you probably know me as Boxxy.
Love you!
Leave Britney alone!
It was a really interesting time.
[Said] In an age of just,
celebrities that people would see on movies and stuff.
It was refreshing for people to see someone real and raw
and funny and unscripted.
Left my scooter outside the dairy -
Nek Minute!
[person giggling]
[Said] When it comes to Aziz,
it was his charisma and it was his personality,
but also it was perfect timing
that sparked a huge worldwide internet flame.
[techno music rising]
[Said] It's kinda funny now,
as a grown man looking back at it.
The content - it's just so simple and raw.
But he was so captivating on camera.
So real and funny, and unscripted.
[man on video] Zyzz doesn't care about the traffic.
Push ups! (people laughing)
[techno music continues]
[Phillip] He just ticked so many boxes
for what the world didn't have at the time
and put it in a package that was cool, sexy, fun, carefree -
all that stuff.
The message is not new,
but if you package it in a way that's relatable,
they'll listen more.
[Said] What drew people in was the way Aziz made them feel.
He made them feel like they could be capable of anything.
[Aziz on video] How do you become a sick cunt but?
Oh listen bro, you go to the gym, you lift weights,
you get tatts, you fuck bitches -
that's all you got to fucking do, cunt!
[Paolo] The persona he portrayed online, like,
this big staunch like, fun loving fighting guy
was literally a persona.
Like, that was it.
Because in real life, he was so goofy.
[Aziz on video exclaiming]
[man chuckling]
[Paolo] But I feel like
if he was as goofy as he was in real life in those videos,
no one would have taken the message as serious.
Very early on he realised that that persona
worked in motivating.
The message that he was trying to portray
was not to hurt or punch on with people or be rude to people,
it was more so to bring people up and to elevate people
and help people become the best version of themselves.
[Aziz chattering on video]
[Shaun] You can look at it as a surface level thing, like,
oh going to the gym and getting a good body,
but yeah, it's a bit deeper than people think.
Uplift yourself, uplift those around you.
Have a laugh. Don't be too serious.
Don't fight other people. Don't hate.
It's all pretty positive stuff.
[Aziz on video] A kebab with protein in it.
Yes!
[gentle music]
[Said] He made a post on his Facebook saying,
"I've got more followers than our Prime Minster".
It kind of sunk in like wow,
this guy's actually becoming super famous
and a super recognisable face and name.
Oh, calm down.
What are you doing?
[keyboard tapping]
[tense music rising]
[Aziz on video] You mad brah? You fucking mirin', brah?
[Paolo] I think I realised like it was going crazy
when like, there was like, Brazilian fans.
I was like, "What?"
You've got fans from Brazil, like, who know Zyzz, brah.
[loud techno playing]
[Said] The girls and the friendships
and the opportunities.
Everything came so quickly and so intensely.
He was chasing fame, and it was working.
All of his friends around him
were all just like, "What the fuck?
"Like, this is so cool".
[Shahida] He'd slowly build a posse of people
who would just go everywhere he went, like groupies.
It was bizarre. Like, who are these people?
[Phillip] We were called The Aesthetics Crew.
We had like, people messaging -
can I be part of the crew, what have I gotta do?
Like, what's the process?
Is there an application form or something?
[Phillip] You know, I had all these people on Facebook
wanting to add me and talk to me through my inbox,
and I felt like this um, 15 minutes of fame kind of thing.
We would be at home chillin'
and someone would knock on the door
and it'd be like this weapon of a chick.
And he'd be like, "Can you guys come back in like an hour?"
And then we'd go off and then whatever,
and then come back and she'd leave.
Like literally, like Uber Eats kind of thing,
you know what I mean?
It's that time again, brah. So let's fucking do it.
Alright. What I'm going to show you today,
is something epic.
Alright boys, just having a walk around in the Casa de Zyzz.
This is the place where I sleep, live, eat
and get aesthetic and shit.
Alright, so my number one goal in life
is not only just to get everyone in the fucking gym and train,
but get everyone into this fucking beautiful music,
because this music gives me emotion
that no girl has ever given me in my life.
[Shaun] Every Friday became like a gathering at my house.
Have deep and meaningfuls, have a lot of laughs.
[Phillip] Hanging out at Shaun's house in the backyard,
cracking silly jokes and laughing.
Seemed meaningless and mundane at the time -
I look back and go those were the fun times.
[George] He stopped trying to be and was just being.
It was just Az. It wasn't anything else.
[George] He'd always say stuff like,
"This is the peak of my life".
[loud techno music]
[music fading]
[Phillip] A lot of people would look at Az
and go "Yeah, he looks amazing",
but you can't really put your finger on -
what is it about him that I can't take my eyes off -
the physique - like there's something about it.
You have to understand, during that moment,
as far as physique, within the bodybuilding realm,
everyone was just trying to become a cloud.
[Shaun] He thought bodybuilding was pretty stupid to be honest.
They'd just get as big as possible, kind of thing,
whereas he was like, he didn't care about that at all.
He wanted a body that was actually aesthetic.
[Phillip] It's how does it look all put together?
His muscle insertions -
everything flows from one muscle to the next.
Everything's very symmetrical.
Most people - their trap kind of stops halfway up the neck.
His one almost went up behind his ear.
And then he had this upper chest clavicle bone -
it almost has like a Romanesque armour kind of look to it.
I haven't seen anything like that since.
[gentle music]
[Phillip] It was almost like
why people just sit there and stare at that 'David' statue -
Michelangelo's 'David'.
It's kind of like that but I think it's better.
You can just stare at a photo of him and, and admire.
[both chuckling]
[techno music]
[Said VO] Aziz had cracked the cheat code to life.
He loved the spotlight, the attention and the fame.
He enjoyed the rockstar life.
He was like, if this is the response I'm getting now...
...imagine if I get even bigger.
[tense music]
[Said on video] Dumbbell presses.
Yes! Come on!
[Paolo] He was like ahead of the game.
[Aziz] Come on!
[Paolo] He had like researched stuff for bodybuilding
that like, was like unheard of.
This stuff was called clenbuterol.
So it's essentially, for horses with asthma.
Like, back in the day
you could only get this stuff from farriers -
from like people that trained horses!
[Paolo] I was doing all my university on, like anabolics,
like that's what I was doing a lot of my studies on.
And a lot of bad things did happen.
Whenever I brought up something like, bro like,
you know you can get hypertension
from doing this for a long period time.
He'd be like, "That's not going to happen to me".
Like, he was just extremely naive.
Like, just like no - like happy-go-lucky.
That's never going to happen to me.
[Paolo] My big issue with him was,
this can't be a long-term thing.
It should be a 10-12 week, then have a break, but...
We didn't see eye-to-eye on that.
[tense music]
[Said] He was at Macquarie Uni.
At that time he was working two jobs.
[Shahida] Yeah, he was just hellbent on making money
to modify his body,
so that he can keep up with that persona and that image online.
[tense music]
[Shahida] He went and got his teeth done
and you know, he would constantly come up and smile
with his teeth wide open.
And you're like, "Yes Az, your teeth look great".
But honestly I felt a bit sick about it.
[Said] He was working at C2K Castle Hill as a receptionist
and he was also working for Sydney Hotshots on the side.
It's like a male stripping place.
[Shahida] He was studying marketing and commerce,
and he had this natural talent for understanding social media.
So, he would use the internet
to kind of sell himself, really.
[tense music]
[Shahida] You know, he would sell photos of himself
to gross old men on the internet.
He was getting influenced a lot by people in the forums
who were saying, what's the point of going to university?
You know, I'll do three years here, I'll be 50 grand in debt.
What's the point of doing that
when I can come out of school and make money.
[loud voices]
[father]
[Said] He left uni, in his second year.
They weren't happy with it.
[Aziz on video] In a few years get enough money,
then if I want to, go back to uni...
[Said] It was just really hard to accept.
[Shahida] What was going on in his life -
it was a whole other world.
They didn't understand the effects of that on him,
emotionally, physically.
They just didn't have the mechanisms
to really understand that.
[Paolo] It would have been almost unimaginable
for his ethnic old parents to be like,
"Hello Aziz, we're going to book you into psychiatrist,
"going to talk about how you're getting famous".
That would not have happened. You have to accept that help.
And he would have been like, "Shut the fuck up, Mum.
"I'm not going to talk about how I'm famous
"and about my feelings".
But, probably that's what he needed.
[father]
Az was just still going ahead
with what he wanted to do.
[Said] He just started to pick up the pace as he got older,
and he would do more and more videos.
[TV reporter] YouTube now offers money for video hits.
The average person spends about 15 minutes...
[TV reporter] YouTube is expanding
a revenue sharing program
that allows more users to make money from ads
that run alongside the videos they upload.
Sup fit brahs, Zyzz...
Sup fit brahs, Zyzz over here.
Um, just saying how you going to all you faggots.
[kissing] [clearing throat]
You admirin' the aesthetics, brah?
You fucking admirin' the aesthetics?
I built Mount Olympus with my fuckin' bare hands,
because I am fuckin' Zyss - the son of Zeus.
Keep trolling with me, brah.
Troll for lifes...
Trolling? Oh yeah. Yeah, of course. It's the best.
[Aziz on video] Me and George - look at that sexy cunt!
[George] To get that reaction. We loved that stuff.
You mirin'?
[Aziz] Fucking, look at that cunt.
Hello. Are you mirin'?
Yeah she's fucking mirin', brah.
[George] Probably one of my favourite ones was
we'll go through each others phones
and find people's siblings or ex-girlfriends or good friends
and would message them.
"Such and such has passed away".
Ghost the phone and just leave it at that.
[George] People were getting so angry.
Fuck you looking at, cunt?
Az would just like, "Hey Shads, come and have a look".
[Aziz on video] I like to say hello to everybody...
[Shahida] He had multiple profiles set up.
He would just be having conversations with himself.
[Aziz] What you gonna do, bro?
He would just be dissing himself.
And I'm like, "What are you doing?
"Why are you dissing yourself?"
He's just like, this is how I stay relevant.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
But yeah, I could see that slippery slope.
Come at me, bro. Come at me, bro.
I fuckin' smash all you cunts. Bro! Come at me, bro.
[phone ringing]
Hello.
Being shredded.
Nah.
I'm, I'm on the webcam to my myself.
Recording myself be shredded.
Yes I'm home.
I'm home!
Hello?
[keyboard tapping]
[woman on video] Hey guys it's just me
and I'm here to complain once again like a woman should.
The fuck has gotten into you people?
Why are shortening 'are you admiring me'?
And I know who started this - Zyzz!
Whatever the fuck his name is - Zyzz, Zyss, whatever the fuck!
[keyboard tapping]
[Shahida] We would have these long conversations,
"Hey, you know, this is not right.
"You shouldn't be talking about girls this way".
He was quite aware of the impact he was having.
[keyboard tapping]
[Shahida] He was kind of using it to his own benefit.
I guess you can say that because
the number one thing that Az wanted was fame.
[woman on video] Whatever the fuck his name is.
Yeah! Fuckin Zyzz, brah.
Fuckin' Zyzz, brah!
[woman] So I hope this reaches you.
You're a wanker! You are a toss bucket!
I don't like your videos. You're ugly!
[Aziz] I got a message for you, brah.
In all seriousness...
[techno music building]
Whoa!
Are you fuckin' mirin', brah?
That's it! You've all been fuckin' mirin'!
[Shahida] You know, that shift in his personality
in terms of online personality versus offline
was happening at that time
and I was speaking to him less and less.
Are you fuckin' mirin', brah?
Whoa!
[Said] He always played into the hate.
He knew, if I keep playing on their anger,
I'm going to spread like a wildfire.
[Said] He was onto the algorithm
before the algorithm was an algorithm.
[TV reporter] Over the past decade,
shortform video platform, TikTok,
has taken the world by storm.
Daily use of shortform social media
now exceeds streaming, TV and gaming.
In a race for relevance,
brands and consumers have been stuck in an endless scroll.
[Said] It's really hard to get the spotlight
on the social media.
Now there's like tens of thousands of influencers,
so you're competing for that space.
You're competing for people's eyeballs and attention.
Hey guys, we are here at Smash Room City
and I'm going to break a whole bunch of shit.
[shattering plates]
Fuck yeah!
This one is for all the motherfuckers who doubted me
and said I wouldn't be shit. Fuck you all!
[clanging]
[Said] These days it's all about controversy -
it's all about, you know, reeling someone in.
And this is what a lot of creators are doing these days.
[man screaming]
[Said] They'll say things that they don't believe in
or think are true, but it's called rage baiting.
Okay, so hear me out...
I hate the Beatles.
We don't actually need gravity.
Hookers are ten times better for young men
than having a girlfriend.
Listen to what I said - money buys happiness.
[man VO] Like and subscribe for part two.
Yeah for me, now I see it as an opportunity for growth.
[Said on video] There's no such thing as toxic masculinity.
Men built everything, the buildings we see,
the tables we see, the microphone I'm using.
Everything in this room...
[Said] This post - it's only been up for two or three days
and it's gotten 1 million views already and 42,000 likes.
We can see here, it's 93 percent men.
If there's hate comments or negative remarks
it shows that, you know, I'm in people's heads.
You know, and the same was for Aziz as well.
But any kind of criticism with him was met in a more
"I need to fix this about myself", rather than
"I shouldn't take this personal, it's just the internet".
[tense music]
[Shaun] He's like a, basically a famous guy, he's like,
known as being aesthetic,
but I don't know, I think you focus on things
that people point out in a negative sense
more than positive.
[Shahida] He would just be absolutely fixated
with just little nuances about his appearance.
My left cheek, you know,
this one's a bit bumpier than that one and not as high.
And I think, your cheeks are fine.
There's nothing wrong.
"No, no, have a closer look like, look at my nose.
"There's a bump here and a bump there and..."
And I'm like, "Why are you fixated on your nose?
"There's nothing wrong with your nose".
He had great features, you know.
Thousands of years of history in his features.
He had sourced some,
I can't remember exactly what it was called,
but it's almost like an explosive, right?
That you take, that humans can take,
that rips off like body fat, like at a crazy level.
But the side effect of it is
it raises your body temperature
to like 40 degrees or something.
So like, you're just like, constantly like,
vibrating for like three days.
And I remember seeing him, I'm like, bro,
you've been sweating for like a week straight, nonstop.
This cannot be healthy. You've got to stop.
[Phillip] Obviously, at that point,
he's built his whole identity around it.
To like, have built this identity
around a physical appearance
and then you need to maintain that.
That's hard - that's really hard.
Especially for a young person.
You know, you're not prepared at all for the mental gymnastics
you're going to have to go through to finish up
and have, like, an exit plan.
[gentle music]
[Paolo] The reaction he got online, he liked that.
Some people did take it the wrong way
and thought, oh this guy's just a try hard wanker.
[Paolo] Who does this guy think he is?
Even if they didn't like him,
like some of the Aussies and that, I'm like,
these guys don't like him, but they still wanted a photo.
But there'd be one or two that would try and fight him.
[people shouting]
[man] Wake up you fucker!
What the fuck are you doing you dumb cunt.
[man] Before I fucking smash your fucking head in.
[Said] He was highly anxious and highly paranoid
about going out in public places,
because he was scared of being jumped by groups of men,
and attacked or given a hard time.
That's what worried me the most.
[distorted voices] Is that Zyzz? Is that Zyzz?
[tense music]
[Paolo] I remember one time he gave me a call
and I was at uni and he was like,
"I'm at Parramatta. You need to come to Parra.
"You need to come quickly, Paolo.
"I can't find my keys. I can't find my keys".
I was like, "What? What do you mean?
"I'm not coming to Parramatta, I can't help you".
And then, "Where's the phone, bro? Where's my phone?
"I can't find it anywhere. I can't find my keys.
"I can't find my keys".
[Paolo] He was taking occasionally some Xanax,
to help him deal with that social anxiety.
It helped him be able to take some photos and stuff
with people and not be so anxious.
[tense music]
[Paolo] He got swarmed with people,
he couldn't deal with the anxiety,
took a Xanax to help him get the anxiety down,
but he obviously took one or two too many on an empty stomach
or something and then lost his marbles completely.
He ended up like
not being able to get out of the shopping centre
and the security had to help him find his car.
[Paolo] If you feel like you've got to do that
when you're going out in public...
...what sort of a life is that?
[techno music playing]
[Paolo] He had heaps of acquaintances
and people that were like, "Yeah, I'm friends with Zyzz".
But like, even though he had like this huge
crowd of people and that -
because he couldn't socialise with his friends.
Like, when we went out,
we couldn't interact normally with him, like, at all.
[Shaun] Who can really relate to him?
You know what I mean?
That could be a lonely place.
[gentle music]
[people chattering]
[Shaun] At some point it was just like he always wanted,
"Record, record".
He's like, "Just record me doing this".
Like, "You're not doing anything".
He's like, "Just record it anyway."
[Shaun] Eventually I was like,
"Hey I'm not gonna be the cameraman anymore".
[chuckling] And kind of gave up the gig.
[Phillip] I always felt like there was a part of me
that was in my mind whispering,
like at some point you're going to have to stop partying.
You have to settle down. It's not gonna last forever.
And I think that's where my exit kind of started.
[Shaun] He used to love those festivals,
but he had to pretty much stop going to as many and,
even going out at all.
He just stayed in his house, like most of the time.
[gentle music]
[techno music rising]
[man] While I was trying to do my tattoo apprenticeship,
my mum was like, "Get a job".
[Phillip] I don't know if it's just more of a symbolic thing,
but he got a tattoo on his chest,
that didn't cover his 'Veni Vidi Vici' tattoo,
but it kind of went around it and hid it.
I thought, I don't know why he got that.
[machine buzzing]
I felt like that tattoo really was part of his identity.
It's almost like, I don't know -
his identity was, not shifting -
but like visually, it wasn't him anymore.
Whether Az purposely did that, I don't know.
[machine buzzing]
[Phillip] When he was getting this tattoo,
he was on Xanax to help him chill out
and fall asleep while he got the tattoo done.
And I remember going in to see him
and he was a little bit out of it from the xanies.
When you say so much? Because I only mentioned--
Good. Yeah, I was worried about that
because that was not the only time.
Okay?
And that is probably the one thing that stuck out to me
and still does until this day, because it makes...
So that time when he got the tattoo
he was xannied out of his head...
...and he wasn't totally himself.
[people chattering]
[inhaling] [people laughing]
[man] He's fucking gone, man.
[Phillip] And it was a time,
I think it was either just before the tattoo or just after,
that he was at home and I came over to see him,
and he was on xannies then too
and he was overly affectionate and lovey dovey,
and I was like, "Dude, why are you taking Xanax at home?"
The tattoo, the xannie, it didn't really -
okay, it hurts, you're trying to get your mind off things
and you want to pass out - whatever,
but being at home and we just chillin' and you're on xannies.
That stuck out to me.
Now it sticks out to me even more.
[tense music]
[phone ringing]
[phone continues ringing]
Ah, stop calling!
[Aziz] Alright, it's time to talk one-on-one,
with everyone here.
Listen carefully, brahs. This is a revolution.
Everybody asks me, "What the fuck is Zyzz about?"
[tense music building]
It's a fucking act. There is no Zyzz.
Zyzz is a fucking joke.
That's right, Zyzz...
I'm not Zyzz.
Zyzz is a person that took over who I am, I'm Az.
[tense music]
[Aziz] At the end of the day, bro, you gotta listen to this.
If you're a fucking shredded sick cunt,
you can get away with anything, brah.
Do you think if I was some fat cunt making this shit
people would be like, "Oh yeah! Zyzz brah, yeah".
No one would give a fuck, man.
[tense music continues]
[Aziz] All your fuckin' little comments, brah!
At the end of the day, it's fucking Zyzz, brah!
And every one of us has a little bit of Zyzz in us.
You just don't know it yet.
[tense music rising]
[discordant voices echoing]
[Aziz] Fuck off!
[knocking on door]
[Aziz] I'm doing a shit.
[knocking on door again]
[Aziz] Let me take a shit! I'm trying to take a shit.
[mouse clicking]
[tense music]
[Paolo] He was begging me to go to Thailand with him.
I kept saying to him, like, "I can't go now,
"I've got like too many assignments on.
"But you're not the sort of person
"able to go to like overseas to Thailand,
"like you need someone to go with you".
He's like, "Yeah, yeah, I'll find someone".
[George] He was gonna go there with a mate.
I just took him to the airport.
[George] On the way there he was saying basically
I'm going to this holiday, I'm going to go switch off.
I'm going to get away from all this.
When I come back,
we've gotta get jobs where we can save money with
and build something.
He wanted, I guess, a trajectory change.
Sup everyone, Zyzz here.
Basically I'm going to answer a few simple questions about,
training and dieting for an event.
A lot of people actually ask me how I do it so...
[Said] I think he saw past the shallow lifestyle
and the fake people that were around him,
and he wanted to do something more with his fame.
Yeah, so that's pretty much all I'm going to talk about for now.
Any questions leave them over here.
And yeah! See ya later, brah.
[George] Dropping him off right up to the terminal.
And um, I gave him a hug.
You know, you're gone.
I'm not going to see you now for however many weeks.
Come here.
And he goes alright, gives me a hug back,
then pats me on the back.
After about five seconds he goes,
"Listen, they're going to think we're gay.
"I've got to go".
[plane engine roaring]
[keyboard tapping]
[traffic noises]
[Aziz exclaiming]
[Phillip] He told George that he was going with someone else,
and then he told someone else
he was going with another person.
So he had this little circle jerk happening
of telling people he was going with someone else and then...
It was confusion, initially,
about why he went to Thailand by himself.
[slow tense music]
[Said] We were in contact, we were talking all the time.
I had no idea that he went on his own.
[Paolo] I'd heard about the pharmacies
and how easy it is to get, like,
benzodiazepines and steroids and -
like, it's like a candy shop.
Like, if I saw that on paper, I would have said,
"This is not a good idea".
[Paolo] He was not in the right mindset to be going there.
[slow tense music continues]
[Aziz] Whoa! You jeally, brah?
This is my pet elephant in Thailand.
[Aziz] Fuck!
Time to go for a swim.
You mad?
[Said] It was a little bit strange to me and then...
Ah yeah, he was supposed to come home two days later.
[Phillip] I got a phone call.
Someone had texted me.
George, you got to come to the house.
Come to Az's house.
[Shaun] Come to his house, there's big news.
[Shaun] We went straight away
and there were just so many people on the street.
[Phillip] Everyone was there on the driveway.
[Paolo] His mum was a mess. His dad was a mess.
They were just like, just in hysterics.
[tense music] [keyboard tapping]
[Phillip] And I got out, started talking,
finding out what was going on.
There was a lot of disbelief.
[Shaun] It just seemed like - we couldn't believe it.
We thought like this was an elaborate ruse.
[Phillip] No, no, no, no. This can't be right.
What do you mean?
[Shaun] You know, he was tricking us or something.
But eventually we were getting, you know,
information from official sources in Thailand.
[distant ambulance siren]
[Shaun] And that was it.
[ambulance sirens]
[Said] They put his death certificate in front of me
and they just said, "We're sorry to tell you,
"but your brother Aziz passed away in Thailand...
"...August 5th".
And I remember screaming.
[George] We're just trying to figure out what happened.
How, what, why, who?
Who was the biggest thing.
Someone has to have done something.
Like someone that we can go and do something to,
to make up for what we've just learnt, you know?
[Phillip] What would it matter? He's gone.
That's like a...
Death is like a thick black texta through your name.
It's done.
Doesn't matter why it's there.
The black mark is there.
You're gone, it's permanent.
And that's all that mattered to me at the time, was that he's...
He died and there was nothing I could do about it.
[gentle music rising]
[Shaun] They brought back his body.
They were asked if you want to identify the body.
And a bunch of the boys went and ah...
Yeah, it was kind of gut wrenching,
because there was - obviously not the state -
it had been a few days already.
Not the state that you're used to seeing your best mate in.
They said he didn't look the same.
[breathing heavily]
[Shahida] They couldn't identify him properly
because he had done all these surgeries on his face,
his face was completely different to...
I think at that point now it's like,
that's why he went
and I kept replaying that conversation we had about,
you know, "How does my nose look?"
"How does my cheek look?"
[Shaun] Think back and see that image.
That's not something I wanted so I didn't -
I didn't go to the viewing myself.
I didn't want to have to think of him that way.
So I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I didn't.
[players exerting]
[TV reporter] A well known Sydney bodybuilder has died
after collapsing in a sauna in Thailand.
[TV reporter] It's caused an outpouring of grief online
His brother Said posted, "RIP brother, I love you so much.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this".
[Said] I was burdened with the responsibility
of having to tell everyone.
It was a horrible time to be alive.
[Shaun] The information wasn't known initially.
The news just wanted to get
whatever information they could out there
as quickly as possible.
[Phillip] Somehow it caught wind that he was in a sauna
and maybe the media wanted to embellish the story
and somehow it stuck that he passed out in a sauna.
[Paolo] It was in a day spa centre,
like where there is a sauna, but he wasn't in a sauna.
Do we know exactly what the cause of death,
what exactly did it? No.
[Shaun] Obviously he took steroids
which can lead to enlarged organs,
but we don't really know to be honest.
[Phillip] All we knew was he'd passed away,
I think from a heart attack, or something like that.
[Said] No one believes it.
People thought I was lying.
Which made it ten times worse.
And then they started attacking me,
thinking that it's one of Az's big elaborate jokes.
[Shaun] People thought, you know,
he's off living in some other country
and he wanted to get away from the limelight.
Or he's tricking us and he's gonna come back.
He'd done little tricks in the past,
people were just trying to get to the bottom of it.
[gentle music]
[Said] It lasted for like, two, three years.
Every year there would be like -
on this day, he's going to come back,
and it was like his birthday
and then he didn't come back.
The year after - on this day, he's going to come back.
And he didn't come back.
[gentle music]
[man speaking German on video]
[man on video] Hey, this is Zyzz...
All y'all guys wanna know my thoughts on
the passing of Zyzz right?
[podcaster] 22 years old,
he suffered from a heart attack, cardiac arrest
while in a sauna in Thailand.
This is the story that everyone remembers him by.
No one really knows what the fuck happened.
In a sauna? At his age, 22? Zyzz?
Known as the aesthetic king or whatever you want to call it.
Man, I find it very hard to believe.
Where was his friends at?
I mean someone like this ain't going to be by themselves
inside of a sauna.
[Phillip] People juggle all these conspiracies around,
and I get that, I even denied it in my mind.
People can't swallow the pill
that their idol has left the planet.
[YouTuber] To your brother -
he had stamped such a thing in this industry that is just--
[Said] Unforgettable.
[YouTuber] I mean, bro, I'll never forget it.
- [Said] Yeah. - [YouTuber] So I gotta ask,
'cause I've read - but how did he actually die?
[Said] Um, this is something I actually can't talk about
- because I promised my parents. - [YouTuber] Shit!
I guess it'll just like help a lot of young men.
Um...
And it'll give a lot of closure, maybe, to a lot of people.
[slow tense music]
[George] The thing with Xanax is it has a very long half-life.
Days, not just hours.
So, that coming up in toxicology
may have been from a prior usage.
To have used it alongside a painkiller,
or something like that,
we all thought, surely he's not that silly.
[Paolo] We had done Xanax together in the past
like I felt guilty for a little bit -
I'm like, oh man,
maybe if I'd like never introduced him to this
or if we'd never hung out ever,
he would never have done this.
But I literally had so many conversations with him,
like, don't do this, don't take Xanax overseas,
don't - blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
The only thing I could have physically done
was gone with him.
But yeah, that's it.
[Phillip] It's hard because you only know when looking back.
[George] What are you doing?
- [Aziz] I'm laughing. - Why are you laughing?
[George] Don't cry. It's alright. What's wrong?
[George] Come on, what's wrong?
[Aziz] Fuck you.
[George] No, tell me. What's wrong?
[Phillip] When you're in your 20s, like,
you don't realise bad things can happen.
Yeah, 'young man' - you could use that word
but we're also like, boys.
You are lost.
You got nothing figured out.
And the dangerous thing is
you think you got everything figured out.
[Shahida] He could have been that person
to show the masses that, you know,
it doesn't matter what you look like,
and ultimately, you know, sadly,
that was his message,
but he fell into that trap.
[Phillip] The version I am now, I would like to think,
that I would be probing and poking,
and trying to help him navigate a way out.
I don't think so.
[spraying sounds]
[gentle music]
[Said] He was only 22 when we all lost him.
I understand why people put him on a pedestal,
like, I get it,
but I also think people need to realise that
he's just a human being and a young man.
Their favourite idols - they feel, they live,
they breathe, they bleed just like us.
I think the imperfect ones are normally the best ones.
[PA announcer] You know him as Chestbrah.
Ladies and gentlemen please welcome, Said!
[crowd cheering and screaming]
[Said] People might not understand why I do what I do.
The truth is, the last time I saw him, in the coffin,
I gave him a kiss,
and I said to him that I'll never stop doing...
[exhaling] God, this is hard.
I'll never stop doing what he started to do
and I'll live my life for him and for me.
And, yeah, I've done that, and I'll continue to do that.
[gentle piano music]
[Paolo] People can say what they want about him,
but at the end of the day,
to have the resilience to come back from a dying brother -
with the hate - "Oh you're just doing it..."
"You just, you just took your brother's name".
Blah, blah, blah, blah blah.
Like, there's not many people I admire,
but I admire my friend Said's tenacity to keep going
in the face of adversity, like that is not easy.
[Said] You know, I will always hold the flame strong.
Even though like, Az isn't here today,
there is a happy ending to this story.
[upbeat music]
[Phillip] Before he died,
his content that he's created,
inspired young men all over the world.
[Phillip] And then something happened.
The next generation has come along.
They find his videos on whatever platform's big at that time,
turn to the gym and get in shape,
feel better about themselves
and change their lives in a positive way.
One of the very first workout routines that I ever did
was one that he posted for free on bodybuilding.com.
[man] All these philosophies that he made
that were funny at the time
but the messages behind it, was life changing.
It gave me a lot of inspiration to get through depression
and then to build my confidence.
[man] Zyzz's message - you know,
go out, do something with your life,
you know, form your passions, go and follow your dreams.
You only get one chance.
Do what you want. Because life's short.
I think I still would have been that scared little kid,
too afraid to actually get out there
and actually better myself.
If it wasn't for him, you know,
I might not even be here talking to you guys today.
Fucking love you Zyzz. Forever mirin', brah.
We're all gonna make it.
[Paolo] You can be depressed and down about it
or you can just look at the person's life -
the life they've made
and the life they sort of set up for their brother.
It gave Said an opportunity to flourish.
He would not be happy with us crying about his death -
making a documentary about it.
He would be laughing and saying,
"Stop being a shit cunt, stop being a little bitch, cunt.
"Fucking be happy".
There was always light at the end of the tunnel for him.
[Shaun] He's changed so many lives for the better.
That's his legacy there.
The impact he's left in other people.
[Phillip] Name one fitness icon that has died,
and 15 years later people are still talking about him.
[YouTuber] I think a lot of people
getting into this space that we are in
were heavily inspired by Zyzz.
Zyss was never a Looksmaxxer.
Zyss was Hopecore for health and fitness incarnate.
He showed that training can be fun -
can be inspiring and motivating.
And he showed that you can enjoy the journey along the way.
That is such a great and powerful message
I will teach my children.
[Paolo] I think if he was alive today,
he'd be not just trash talking for clickbait,
he would be portraying
a much more positive, body conscious, aware image.
[Phillip] I guess the point is
we never got to see his arc finish.
Now, there are much more polarising figures.
My job as a dad is to raise my kids
to navigate and dissect - take the good from the bad.
[Phillip] How do I do it? Man, I'm learning that as I go.
With Az -
can we call him a good person?
In my opinion - the positive he contributed to the world
far outweighs the negative.
Full stop.
- ["Cochon st. - Antoine" byCommandant Coustou playing]