Gad Saad is a Lebanese-Canadian evolutionary psychologist and professor in the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University who has held visiting professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College and the University of California. He’s also written more than 300 pieces for Psychology Today.
But when he took aim at actor and professional stoner Seth Rogen, he got canceled hard.
In a piece headlined “The moral hypocrisy of celebrities — the case of Seth Rogen” — since pulled by Psychology Today — Saad wrote that “Seth Rogen and other champagne socialists do not live out their convictions. They are vacuous parasitic virtue signallers who wear Che Guevara T-shirts from the luxury of their Malibu homes. Be the former and reject the latter.”
Saad took down virtue signaling among the privileged classes, writing:
Let me explain yet again the source for all of the platitudinous virtue signalling. The truly privileged elites know that deep down they are frauds. They suffer from existential guilt. Hence, one of the ways by which they assuage the guilt albatross around their necks is to demonstrate to the world that they are truly compassionate, truly loving, truly caring, truly profound. Hence, they love all ‘undocumented’ immigrants. They love Mother Earth. They love the ozone layer. They love BLM. They love socialism. They love inner cities. They hate the gentrification of neighbourhoods. They love mentors of color. They cherish diversity. They love LGBTQ movies. They adore queer architecture. They are better than you. More caring, more cultured, more empathetic. This permits them to sleep better at night. See, I’m not a fraud. I may be a gargantuan parasitic hedge fund bullshitter but I really care. I may be an overpaid BS actor but I fight for solar panels. Those fly over rubes deserve their lot in life. They are racists who bed their siblings. We are science supporters who fight against Mother Earth rapists whilst flying in our private jets. It is a classic ego defensive strategy that permits the ruling class to exist within their fractured selves. Save this thread. Memorize it. I’m offering you a deep psychological explanation of our times.
Pretty scathing.
Then Rogen responded.
“I actually watched your video and it’s so stupid. Why was I a left wing socialist when I was broke and unemployed according to your brilliant theory?” he wrote on Twitter.
I actually watched your video and it’s so stupid. Why was I a left wing socialist when I was broke and unemployed according to your brilliant theory?
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 31, 2021
Then Psychology Today yanked the article. “The article that was pulled by @PsychToday for NO valid reason has now been published by a second outlet,” he wrote.
The article that was pulled by @PsychToday for NO valid reason has now been published by a second outlet.https://t.co/zwt5fsMVnc
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) February 6, 2021
But Saad had the last word.
“I heard back from an associate editor at Psychology Today,” he wrote on Twitter. “The email was truly breathtaking. In explaining the hypocrisy of the ruling class and in my interaction with Seth Rogen, I used terms such as ‘hypocritical fraud’ and ‘vacuous parasitic signalers.’ This was apparently unacceptable. To frontally criticize a public figure for proclaiming to love socialism whilst benefiting from the most capitalist industry in the most capitalist society ever should apparently be tackled with gentle words and ’empirical evidence.'”
“What is the empirical evidence that would be required to critique him? I should have perhaps stated that Rogan’s position was ‘problematic but noble’ and that I would be conducting a 6-month longitudinal psychoanalysis of his motives for having such a fractured incongruity between his stated beliefs and his daily reality.”
“I have been writing for Psychology Today, since 2008 (312 articles). This is the first one that they’ve ever pulled. I have generated nearly 7 million readers for them, but the use of ‘parasitic’ is simply unacceptable to them,” Saad wrote. “My book is titled ‘The PARASITIC Mind.’ I know the editor in chief personally. I know many of the senior editors. What is transpiring is truly chilling. OK, well, get ready. I’m activating my honey badger.”
“P.S. — My article that was pulled had become one of the five most popular on their site in 30 minutes. But apparently it was too triggering to be ‘mean’ to Seth Rogen. It’s not empirically-based polite language. We have truly entered a dangerous reality.”
Please read carefully. They are coming for you. pic.twitter.com/ZykiM7w5ZF
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) February 5, 2021
Related: Ted Cruz Blasts ‘Moron’ Seth Rogen During Twitter Tussle Over Paris Climate Agreement