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I gotta admit, I haven’t been paying much attention to the recent Roosh V drama…until today, that is. You see, I’m so used to a gang of people calling him out as enemy number one that I just kinda block it out until it reaches epic-level proportions. I would say that getting featured on the BBC’s main news site meets my criteria:

Daryush Valizadeh is a self-styled “neo-masculinist” and pick-up artist who comes from the US and sometimes goes by the nickname Roosh V. Mr Valizadeh wrote a widely criticised article last year calling for the legalisation of rape on private property as a way to “defeat rape culture”. He has since said the post was satirical.

The article in question is satirical, but judging by the reaction, I don’t think many people understand that. Don’t get me wrong, I can certainly understand someone having a problem with the post, as tastes do vary, after all. However, claiming with a straight face that he did in fact advocate for the legalization of rape is kinda disingenuous, in my opinion. I can’t find him admitting on record that this was a troll post, but read it and judge for yourself.

OK, strike that. Here’s a video where he calls it a “thought experiment,” which to me means a troll job lol.

All this has caused worldwide hysteria. I can’t think of any other way to describe it. His Return of Kings site is supposed to have some gatherings this weekend all across the globe and the assumption is that Roosh himself will be at one of them. At least, that’s my understanding of the situation. In response, legislators are trying to ban him from some of the various places where the meet-ups are scheduled to be held. Here’s the Mayor of Ottawa, for example…

A recent post online suggested a meet-up could take place in Ottawa at Arts Court this Saturday evening, which pushed Watson to tweet strong criticism at Roosh V. Watson later told reporters at City Hall that he’s instructed staff to deny renting city facilities for a Return of Kings meet-up. “Our policies are that we don’t allow people who promote hate to use our facilities so that was the direction that I gave to staff,” he said, adding that he asked Ottawa-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury to encourage private halls in the ByWard Market and Lowertown to turn the group away.

And Scotland, from the earlier BBC article…

A petition urging the Scottish government to Stop RooshV being allowed to “promote his hateful violent views” in Scottish cities has gained more than 40,000 signatures. SNP MP Owen Thompson has also written to the Home Secretary calling Roosh V to be prevented from entering the UK, although there is no suggestion he is planning to come to Scotland.

Australia is getting in on the act as well…

Daryush Valizadeh has faced calls to be banned from Australia after saying he would travel Down Under for one of the events on Saturday. The 36-year-old pickup artist author who goes by the online handle Roosh V said that there were meet ups planned for 43 countries, more than 100 in the U.S. Despite Valizadeh’s claims that those gathered would only have a “happy hours” together, others have mobilized in opposition to the events because of the writer’s rhetoric.

New Zealand, too…

Mr Smith said banning Valizadeh from New Zealand was a “no brainer”. “We stopped Chris (Brown), we stopped Mike Tyson, and this should be no different.”

Three underground meet ups have been planned for New Zealand, the first being in Auckland’s Aotea Square this Saturday evening where Valizdeh has asked his followers to meet and through code phrases, move onto a safer location.

Here’s some write-up from The Netherlands that I can’t read, but Google Chrome translated the headline to this:

2016-02-02_22-55-48

Basically, Roosh has successfully trolled the entire world. Just go search some of these hashtags on Twitter: @rooshv kill yourself, @rooshv f*ck you, and @rooshv hate.

https://twitter.com/irvie1/status/694309492662513664

https://twitter.com/rwviewmaster/status/694674456061550592

https://twitter.com/lizichell32/status/694287819624353798

I don’t know what it is about Roosh that causes people to completely lose their shit, but he definitely has a talent for triggering folks. JJTalkz, a YouTuber who I consider a friend, is one person who has called him out. She’s a feminist, but has said that everyone who claims to care about egalitarianism should stand-up and reject Roosh. I can understand that his “modest proposal” might have truly upset a lot of people, but I see him as a performer who in fact looks for exactly this sort of reaction in order to prove his rhetorical points.

Someone in JJ’s comment section compared him to Andy Kaufman. That seems about right, although I won’t say it’s a complete act like Kaufman’s stunts often were. It’s more like he goes over-the-top with certain posts and quotes in order to elicit the reactions he wants to see. If it was anyone else, I would probably be laughing, but seeing someone that I actually know this upset at the guy isn’t easy to watch. Plus, I respect anyone for putting themselves out there like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkQIOXt8LtU&feature=youtu.be

As I said, I’m a big fan of JJ as a person. She’s really nice and I’ve always enjoyed talking with her. Still, if you hate Roosh, the best thing to do would be to ignore him. It’s fine to disagree with me, many often do. So call him out if you want, just keep in mind that you’re making the guy more money at the end of the day. That’s just my take. I’m eager to here what the commenters here think about Roosh and this entire situation, so let me hear from you down below. I’m going to go finish editing this video now. I’ll probably be back with another post before I hit the sack.

 

UPDATE: Even some celebs are now getting in on the act. Here’s Kristen Bell (aka Veronica Mars) and Sophia Bush (Chicago P.D.)…

 

UPDATE 2: Damn, there’s even a hashtag that I missed. It’s titled #TurnAwayReturnOfKings.

https://twitter.com/joseline_cano/status/694717535325786112

 

UPDATE 3: Here’s Roosh clearly stating that the article in question was satire…

https://twitter.com/rooshv/status/694769625129717760