The Problem with Brian Harvey is Matt Taylor.

The Problem with Brian Harvey is Matt Taylor

It’s an odd twist in the saga of former East 17 singer Brian Harvey: his latest problem appears to be a man called Matt Taylor.

Once a chart-topping pop star, Harvey has spent years claiming he was the victim of a setup — manipulated, he says, by figures such as Bill Maloney and Ian Puddick, who allegedly fed him false stories about high-level corruption and celebrity scandals. For many, Harvey has made a convincing case that he was used as a pawn in a much larger game.

But his credibility falters when he veers into less grounded territory. Among his more controversial assertions are that One Direction’s Liam Payne was murdered by his record label, and that the well-known photograph of Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre is fabricated.

At the centre of his recent frustrations is the relatively unknown YouTube personality Matt Taylor. Harvey has argued that Taylor cannot be who he claims to be — reasoning that no one could withstand the level of online trolling Taylor endures without being part of a larger operation.

Taylor, for his part, offers a dry response: “The problem with Brian Harvey is Matt Taylor.”
He insists there’s no grand conspiracy, no hidden alliance, no shadowy motive — just a man who has learned to survive the digital storms that so often engulf those who speak their minds online.

It’s a curious intersection of two embattled figures — one a pop star turned whistleblower, the other a YouTuber accused of being too calm under fire. In a world where truth, perception, and paranoia often blur, perhaps the only certainty left is that both men are convinced they’re right.