FriendlyJordies’ house set on fire in suspected arson attack

The house that belongs to Jordan Shanks-Markovina, known online as FriendlyJordies, was set on fire last night, with reports suggesting that it was an arson attack.

NSW police confirmed that a Bondi house registered to Jordan Shanks-Markovina who is better known as a political commentator FriendlyJordies caught fire this morning at around 12:20 am. No one was hurt, but the fire caused significant damage to the house next door.

According to OnSceneBondi, a fire in a similar location was reported on Wednesday 16th of November and police are treating the matter as suspicious. The publication posted photos of the fire.

Shanks wasn’t at home at the time of the second fire. According to the publication, two elderly residents escaped the main property and another three neighbours evacuated their home next door.

FriendlyJordies is a controversial YouTuber with hundreds of thousands of followers who shares his take on Australia’s culture and politics. He hit headlines last year for his legal battle with Former Deputy Premier of New South Wales John Barilaro.

Barilaro sued Google and Shanks last year over two videos published on the Friendlyjordies YouTube channel in 2020 that accused the then-politician of corruption. He settled his federal court case against Shanks late last year after the YouTuber and comedian offered an apology and edited the videos.

Meanwhile, Google was ordered to pay Barilaro $715,000 in total as federal court justice Stephen Rares ruled that Google had failed to adhere to its own policies by doing “nothing to prevent Mr Shanks’ hate speech, cyberbullying and harassment” of Barilaro.

Shanks continues to upload videos to his YouTube channel FriendlyJordies, and just a month ago he shared a video about his experience in court, albeit over a different case to the one mentioned above. In his current legal battle, Shanks is being sued for contempt after publishing an interview with a whistleblower in regards to non-compliance with federal anti-money laundering regulations in NSW poker machine venues.

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