Pharma scourge and the Democratic presidential candidates’ dream villain Martin Shkreli took to the livestreaming service Periscope for the first time this weekend. He offered (roughly) two insights:
- He may just burn that one-of-a-kind Wu Tang Clan album he bought for $2 million (this was not well-received).
- He thinks there’s a “100 percent chance” of a movie based off his life (or, perhaps more appropriate, his current predicament). He expects Benedict Cumberbatch or Tobey Maguire to play him.
Shkreli’s forays into social media are pretty well chronicled. On Saturday night he was on Blab, where he’s a bit more of a regular, and switched on Periscope at the same time.
This is the first I’ve watched a Shkreli stream at length and it is a surreal, vexing experience. The Blab broadcast – billed as a “roast” of Shkreli – was largely dominated by the non-stop opinions of the self-styled rare-disease advocate Candace Lerman. Meanwhile, most of the comments on Periscope were asking about the Wu Tang clan album (at this point, Shkreli is a first-rate hedge-fund guy, an anarchist pharma executive, and a C-list pop-culture celeb).
Shkreli, for the most part, seemed completely bored: periodically answering viewer questions, drinking wine, playing his drums and suggesting he’d like someone to “come over and keep me warm.”
Why does he do it? He seems bored and these stints are simply methadone for an attention addiction.
Someone did ask him about testifying in front of Congress. Shkreli’s response: No comment, adding: “Get that camera out of my face.”
#irony