Sad, Creepy Pickup Artists Chased Off a Boat by Protesters
The backlash against malignant grabby-chokey dating coach Julien Blanc's speaking tour of Australia reached its peak today as a group of novice pickup artists was chased off a boat by protesters.
Although Blanc himself didn't show up to the event, Real Social Dynamics went ahead with its Melbourne seminar. The company sent a man named Maximilian, whose Twitter profile describes him as an RSD assistant, as a replacement.
#TakeDownJulianBlanc protesters assembled at the dock at Southbank after learning the event had been relocated to a boat on the Yarra River because a number of hotels had refused to host it, the Herald Sun reported.
Although they didn't stop Max from starting his talk on "how to be a very assertive man," the picketers did keep the boat from leaving shore. Melbourne River Cruises eventually called the police, who escorted the pickup students off the vessel while women chanted "walk of shame."
Maximilian told the Herald Sun "it was aggressive and very sad" that people were made to "fear for their safety," which he felt was "really not cool."
That's how a lot of people feel about Julien Blanc's pickup methods. In a clip from one of his seminars about getting women in Japan, he says, "If you're a white male? You can do what you want. Just grab her."
In another video, he's seen doing just that, grabbing Japanese women's heads at a club and forcing them toward his dick.
Max claimed the videos were "selectively edited" by the media to make Blanc look bad. But even if there were some context in which those clips are okay and not sexual assault, they're just the tip of the slimy, hair gel-covered iceberg.
Blanc and Maximilian have events scheduled in Australia through December 20, if they can find venues willing to accommodate them. #TakeDownJulienBlanc participants have tweeted that they'll be at every one.
