Editorial: Tucker Max — An a**hole

When you return to the Pitt after the break on Monday, expect a lot more than just the usual assortment of classes and tests.

That evening, writer and blogger Tucker Max will be speaking in the William Pitt Union. In the lecture, sponsored by the Pitt Program Council, Max will discuss “how everyone has a passion or life’s work they secretly aspire to,” according to the advertisement in The Pitt News.

While a seemingly benign topic, the sterility of the ad’s description hides a deeper reality: Tucker Max is a controversial figure.

As the author of “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell,” “Assholes Finish First” and “Hilarity Ensures,” Max is often accused of disrespecting women and celebrating a culture of rape. The autobiographical books recount his exploits as a 20-something, often highlighting drunken sexual encounters of questionable legality and consensuality. Gawker has labeled him a “sad piece of nothing,” a characterization actually quite tame compared to some other descriptions on the Internet.

On campus, reaction in some quarters has been similarly critical. Bella Salamone, president of Campus Women’s Organization, has said that the group has received an uncommonly high level of concern from the public in response to Max’s scheduled appearance.

“We have been hearing a lot from students and faculty expressing concern,” said Salamone, who also noted that interest in the lecture has moved beyond Pitt, with students from Carnegie Mellon even expressing concern.

Yet this controversy is what the Pitt Program Council believes makes Tucker Max an effective speaker. In early 2012, Max renounced his previous lifestyle and today recommends more balanced behavior, having attributed his past antics to unresolved emotional issues and narcissism.

“I think if you read between the lines a little bit, in between all the bravado, you can see a lot of self-loathing,” Max said in an interview with Forbes earlier this year.

This journey will be the subject of Monday’s lecture, according to representatives of the Pitt Program Council. While the lecture will maintain Max’s characteristic bravado and has by no means been turned into an inspirational self-awakening, Bethany Hill, Lecture Director of Pitt Program Council, says the organization has been assured Max’s lecture will not glorify his controversial past, but simply remain positive and entertaining.

Max’s agent said in an email to the Pitt Program Council, “The sort of speech he likes to give is actually quite different in content from his stories.”

Hill believes that PPC made the right decision and thinks the event will serve the students well. She adds, “had anybody within the organization strongly dissented, we wouldn’t have gone through with it.”

Salamone remains unsure.

“Considering the evidence of such a horrific history, it feels disrespectful to the women of Pitt” to have invited him, she said.

We do not believe the Pitt Program Council has made the optimal decision in this case. While Max has publicly denounced much of his past, he still profits substantially from it. He remains a best seller, having published the last of his stories this year. His website, Tuckermax.com, is still up, with “I am Tucker Max, and I am an asshole” stretched across the top — along with his derogatory stories about women still available for reading below. If the Pitt Program Council wished to showcase a motivational speaker or even straight comedian, there were other, less controversial options.

Additionally, the branding for the event is hard to reconcile with the softer image Max presents today. Advertising showcases him as “leader of the new literary genre, Fratire,” and prominently displays the title of his book. It is difficult to glean the more positive messages the Pitt Program Council claims the event will espouse.

Nonetheless, it is admirable that PPC never invited Max at the height of his popularity — pre-transformation — and his insight today could be legitimately interesting. Still, this benefit does not justify bringing in a public figure whose only claim on success resulted from years of exploitation and destructive behavior, nor the net negative impression this event leaves on Pitt as an institution.