‘Someone took the time to groom him’: Luigi Mangione’s taper fade haircut might be more significant than anyone realized

Accused CEO shooter Luigi Mangione‘s taper-fade haircut and threaded eyebrows could be a “jailhouse message,” according to Touré Neblett on TikTok.

Mangione premiered his new look when he arrived with Batman-villain fanfare in New York to face charges for shooting and killing United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, in broad daylight on a Manhattan street. Before he was extradited from Pennsylvania, Mangione’s good looks and a backlog of negative public sentiment for the health insurance industry had already made the 26-year-old a folk hero to some after Thompson died.

Mangione is “cared for,” Neblett said

In a recent TikTok post, Touré Neblett, a writer, critic, and podcaster, said Mangione’s grooming could indicate the charismatic accused killer was “cared for” by other inmates while he awaited extradition in Pennsylvania. “He is respected, and he is protected within that inmate class,” Neblett says. “He can’t just go anywhere and get a haircut,” Neblett adds. According to Neblett, an inmate in charge of the “haircut situation” wanted to ensure he looked good and signal to the authorities, “We care about Luigi inside.”

Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 at an Altoona, PA, McDonald’s. He was then held for a week before his extradition to New York. Comments said Mangione was in solitary confinement and that Neblett could be reading too much into how he looked when he arrived.

Neblett’s comments pointed out, “He’s literally in isolation. He has no contact with other inmates,” and “It means he paid a guy to cut his hair.” Notably, though, Mangione’s hair wasn’t shaved or buzzed, it was styled. (Newsweek reports Mangione was housed alone in Pennsylvania but was not in solitary confinement.)

It wasn’t just to make Mangione “look good”

Neblett wasn’t the only TikToker to theorize that Mangione’s makeover was intentional. TikToker Kissing Whiskey Vintage says her parents are felons, so she understands prison culture. “Luigi’s taper fade is a signal to the correctional officers not to beat him up,” Kissing Whiskey Vintage says in her post. “It’s a signal to the correctional officers that other inmates care about him and have his back,” she adds. When that signal gets sent, authorities “tow the line” to keep the peace and prevent a riot, she says.

We may never know how or why Mangione left Pennsylvania with a notable makeover; however, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, “Specialty haircuts or styles such as Mohawks, razor/clipper cut designs, or hairstyles which alter the hairline are prohibited. Haircuts and styles are to be symmetrical.” Mangione’s cut falls under those definitions, so Neblett and Kissing Whisey could be right.

The public got another look at Mangione on Dec. 23 when he pleaded not guilty to murder, stalking, and terrorism. According to the prosecution, Mangione “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and “affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder.”

Mangione’s defense said, “He’s a young man, and he is being treated like a human ping pong ball.” They also noted the unusual spectacle of Mangione’s New York “perp walk,” attended by New York Mayor Eric Adams, The New York Times reported. If convicted, Mangione could spend the rest of his life in prison.