The Creepy Crusade to Cancel Red Scare’s Dasha

Dasha Nekrasova is an actress and political commentator who co-hosts the popular Red Scare podcast. She is also a victim of one of the more bizarre cancel culture stories in recent memory.

Nekrasova first attracted public attention in 2018, when she was selected for a random woman-on-the-street interview at South by Southwest. The interviewer was with Infowars, the conspiratorial rightwing website founded by Alex Jones. At the time a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) and the progressive left, Nekrasova maintained a calm and friendly demeanor during the confrontational interview—and the video went viral, probably because Nekrasova was dressed as a Sailor Moon character. Fans dubbed her “Sailor Socialism.”

Later that year, Nekrasova started Red Scare with the Russian-born writer Anna Khachiyan. The podcast was initially associated with what was then described as the “dirtbag left,” an ecosystem of extremely progressive, Sanders-supporting online commentators. Like Chapo Trap House, the prototypical example of dirtbag left podcasting, Red Scare quickly became very popular. Nekrasova’s career prospered in other ways, as well: She appeared on season three of the HBO series Succession.

Over time, the ideological perspective of Red Scare has drifted undeniably rightward, however. The podcast started interviewing guests more associated with the dissident right, including Curtis Yarvin and Steve Sailer. Recently, the ladies talked to Nick Fuentes, an avowed racist and antisemite whose appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast has caused considerable friction on the right.

The Fuentes interview was apparently a bridge too far for Gersh, the talent agency that represents Nekrasova: They announced they were dropping her as client. That probably doesn’t affect Red Scare very much, although it probably makes it more difficult for Nekrasova to work as an actress.

And this is where the story gets weird.

Apparently, Gersh fired Nekrasova after a lone, obsessed individual sent the agency email after email about her—for three years. That individual, Jonathan Daniel Brown, is the subject of a bizarre profile in The Hollywood Reporter, titled “The Long, Thorny Path to Dasha Nekrasova’s Hollywood Shunning.” The Reporter interviewed him at great length regarding his Nekrasova fixation and his desire to get her fired by Gersh, an agency “to which he has no formal ties.” His quest began in 2023; Gersh did not respond to his repeated, desperate pleas for the cancellation of Nekrasova, whom he accused of platforming dangerous hate speech.

But this year, in the wake of the Fuentes interview, Brown tried a new tactic: He posted Instagram stories about Nekrasova and tagged a journalist who works for Deadline. This did get Gersh’s attention—eventually—and they parted ways with Nekrasova.

You’re probably wondering who this guy is and what his problem is. It seems he has had very minor acting roles, and mostly works as a producer. It does not appear to be the case that he knows Nekrasova personally (presumably, that detail would have made it into the profile). The profile itself, I suspect, is designed to heap some scorn upon Brown.

And scorn is certainly deserved.

So let me get this straight: This random loser waged a crusade against @dash_eats for TWO YEARS, snitch tagging her to her agent over and over and over again, was ignored… and then finally succeeded after involving a journalist? I can’t imagine doing this, let alone being proud… https://t.co/tIJUba9Otn

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) November 18, 2025

Gersh is not obligated to maintain Nekrasova as a client; moreover, I am on the record as being against podcasters doing softball interviews with Hitler apologists. (I did not watch the interview in question, and thus have no opinion on whether it was softball or not.) But I am also against weirdos weaponizing professional grievance culture to silence or punish other people. Brown’s behavior is creepy and should be stigmatized as such.

In other news, we’re having a debate—and you’re invited! For the latest installment of Reason Versus, I will be joined by my colleague Elizabeth Nolan Brown to make the case that “Big Tech Does More Good Than Harm.” Taking the negative side are Emily Jashinsky and Ryan Grim of Breaking Points. Grim and Jashinsky also previously hosted various versions of Rising, so this will be a reunion of sorts, in addition to a fantastic debate on a super important subject.

The debate will take place in Washington, D.C. on December 10, and you can get tickets to watch live here.

I am joined by Niall Stanage and Amber Duke to discuss the news of the week. We are going to be doing this format—all three at once—more often, as it seems to be popular!

Now that I’m done with Donkey Kong, my fiancé and I have started playing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which is a prequel to Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Unlike the core games in the Zelda series—which are mostly single-player action/puzzle games—this is a two-player hack and slash adventure in the style of Koei’s addictive Dynasty Warriors games. I am a massive fan of Dynasty Warriors, and I really liked the first Hyrule Warriors game, which had an original plot, sort of along the lines of Avengers: Endgame, but for Zelda. The second two, which take place solely within the continuity of Tears of the Kingdom and its predecessor, Breath of the Wild, are too straightforward for my tastes. But as far as mindless button-mashing goes, I’m having some fun, I guess.