Julien Blanc's apology leaves critics largely unimpressed

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/18/critics-unimpressed-julien-blanc-apology

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A televised apology by self-styled international dating expert Julien Blanc on Tuesday turned out to be a makeover attempt his critics weren’t buying.

Blanc, 25, called himself “stupid” in a CNN appearance amid accusations that he has promoted dangerous and abusive behavior toward women in seminars ostensibly meant to help men improve their dating skills.

“I just want to apologize to anyone I’ve offended in any way. This was never my intention and I just want to put it out there,” Blanc told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

“I’m extremely sorry,” Blanc continued. “Like, I feel horrible. I’m not going to be happy to feel like I’m the most hated man in the world. I’m overwhelmed by the way people are responding.”

Blanc groveled as calls mounted for him to be barred from entering the United Kingdom, where he was due to arrive for a series of seminars. Last month Blanc suspended a tour of Australia in the face of a boycott campaign, and campaigners in Brazil and Germany have called for a similar ban.

Jennifer Li, who led an online campaign against Blanc under the hashtag #takedownjulienblanc, told BuzzFeed that Blanc’s apology was “full of shit”.

“He is sorry he got caught, not for what he has done,” Li said.

Cuomo, the CNN host, challenged Blanc, asking him if he could honestly say he didn’t intend to offend people. Cuomo noted that Blanc’s materials and seminars have explicitly taught men to use potentially abusive or racist tactics to attract women.

“My intentions were never bad,” Blanc said. He said his materials have been taken “out of context” and that a photo of him with his hand around a woman’s throat was a “horrible attempt at humor”.

On a website linked from a protected Twitter account run by @RSDJulien, “an executive coach for Real Social Dynamics, the international leader in dating advice”, Blanc promises to teach men how to “Make Girls BEG To Sleep With You After SHORT-CIRCUITING Their Emotional And Logical Mind” and develop “panty-dropping masculinity with this rock-solid structure to self-generate the powerful emotions girls crave”.

Video clips of Blanc on YouTube show him pushing women’s faces into his crotch. In a video from one of his seminars, Blanc comments on women in Japan, telling a room full of men: “If you’re a white male, you can do what you want.”

Another woman, who reportedly chatted with Blanc on the dating app Tinder, told BuzzFeed she also believes Blanc’s apology is insincere.

“There are hours of seminar footage where Julien encourages and instructs men to objectify and manipulate women,” she said.

The Canadian woman, who did not give her real name, supplied BuzzFeed with a screengrab of her conversation with a man who she says is Blanc. During the conversation, the man tells her: “You should be happy that I’m acknowledging your existence you whore.” He then apologizes in the following text.

On CNN, Blanc defended such behaviour: “I teach guys how to gain confidence in order to socialize with women and perhaps get into a relationship with women.”

At the end of the interview, Blanc said he’s “re-evaluating everything” but hopes men still enroll in his seminars.