Was Tucker Max’s $500,000 Planned Parenthood Donation A Publicity Stunt?
Cash strapped Planned Parenthood recently turned down a $500,000 donation from than frat boy extraordinaire Tucker Max.
Planned Parenthood was not comfortable with the way Max wrote about women in his books and website.
Max rose to fame after publishing his book 'I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, which detailed his dalliances with women throughout his 20's. The book went on to become a New York Times bestseller and established the genre of 'fratire.'
He's since written three other books about his escapades with 'sluts' and 'whores.' Max has been largely demonized in the media for such derogatory portrayals of women.
Planned Parenthood said it would not be appropriate to accept the donation given that some of Max's jokes about women can be perceived in a certain negative manner.
We don't feel it would be appropriate, given Planned Parenthood's mission and your body of work, to accept your donation, said the health care provider in a conversation about the deal.
Max originally got the idea for the donation when he was looking for a positive way to promote his new book and get a tax break.
Ryan Holiday, Max's publicist, explained the conversation that ensued between the pair in his Forbes blog.
Ryan, I have a huge tax burden this year. I can reduce it with a large donation to charity, but I want to promote my new book at the same time. Can you come up with something cool that does both? he wrote.
Holiday proposed the idea because Max would get a ton of positive press out of it for a change.
The deal proposed was as follows: Max would donate between $250, 000 to $500, 000 and Planned Parenthood would name a clinic after him.
Planned Parenthood loved the idea.
We would be honored to have his support, and his gift would make an enormous impact in our ability to meet the needs of our rapidly growing community in North Texas, wrote Aimee Boon, a VP in an email according to Holiday's account.
Yet hours before the deal was finalized, Planned Parenthood backed out, citing that they were concerned about the perception of the donation on the organization.
Samhita of Feministing called the deal a publicity stunt and cited a recent Tweet by Max to show that he hasn't changed his views. The tweet t has since been deleted from his Twitter account.
In South Florida. This place is awful. S----y design, slutty whores & no culture, like a giant Planned Parenthood waiting room, he wrote.
Nevertheless, Max said he supported the health care provider and has even used their services. He estimates he paid for three to five abortions, reported the Daily Beast.
They really did help me and my girlfriend when I was poor, I really do believe in their mission, and if this money doesn't go to them it goes to the government anyway. Let's do it, he said.
A Planned Parenthood spokesman said in a statement that they reserve the right to decline offers of gifts and grants that may be discriminatory, are for purposes outside of our mission, or are too difficult to administer.
Max said the donation to Planned Parenthood was not a way to rehab his sleazy image.
Right now, I have THREE books on the NY Times Non-fiction Best Seller List and millions of fans, I'm VERY happy with my current image. I have no need or desire to apologize for anything or try to change into some bullshit that other people should think I am, Max wrote on his personal blog.
Max wrote that Planned Parenthood should have accepted the money and spun the donation in a positive way, by either distancing themselves from him, staying neutral on the issue, or making a controversial statement about it.
Ironically, Planned Parenthood chose the worst of all options. They got none of the money and all of the bad press and embarrassment they wanted to avoid, he wrote.
The incident has made him question the authenticity of Planned Parenthood's goals.
Their motives aren't about helping women, wrote Max. Their motives are about what they look like to their friends and signaling they're taking the right types of donations from the right types of people.
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