Former CIA Director John Brennan sparked widespread controversy on social media
This comes after the publication of a video clip from an interview he gave to the program “The Black Box”
on the Kuwaiti channel “Shasha” on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
In the clip, Brennan talks about his experience in Cairo during the 1980s studying Arabic.
He said: “I was strolling through the streets of Khan al-Khalili and the gold market,
Downtown evenings were a part of my daily life.
I admit that I used to smoke hashish, yes, it was put in the hookah.”
Former CIA Director John Brennan, added that these experiences
helped him learn the Egyptian dialect and integrate with the people.
The video quickly spread across social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Reactions varied between humor and admiration on one hand,
and criticism about drugs on the other.
John Brennan discussed these details in his memoirs published in 2020.
However, the video revived the story in a more detailed way.
This increased the public’s interest in his memories of Cairo
and the historic Khan al-Khalili atmosphere.
