Rap Genius CEO Mahbod Moghadam leaves company after offensive comments on Elliot Rodger’s manifesto

THE founder of a multi-million tech company has stepped down, after posting offensive comments on the manifesto of alleged mass murderer Elliot Rodger.

MAHBOD Moghadam, the co-founder of Rap Genius who posted offensive comments on alleged mass murderer Elliot Rodger’s 141-page manifesto Sunday, has left the company, according to Recode’s Kara Swisher.

Valleywag reported Sunday that Moghadam had used the site, which allows people to leave public commentary on things like rap lyrics and news items, to annotate an autobiography written by Rodger, a 22-year-old man who allegedly killed six people in a shooting Friday night in Santa Barbara, California.

In a statement to Valleywag, Moghadam said he was drawn to the manifesto because Rodger was talking about “my neighbourhood growing up.”

“I got carried away with making the annotations and making any comment about his sister was in horrible taste, thankfully the rap genius community edits out my poor judgment, I am very sorry for writing it,” he wrote.

Elliot Rodger from his YouTube video. Officials say Rodger was the gunman who went on a shooting rampage near the University of California at Santa Barbara on Friday, May 23.

According to screenshots of comments published in multiple outlets, Moghadam allegedly theorised that Rodger’s sister is “smokin hot,” and wrote that some of his sentences were “beautifully written” or “artful.” As of Monday, many of Moghadam’s most egregious annotations have been removed or edited on the site.

Tom Lehman, co-founder and CEO of Rap Genius, announced in a statement published on Rap Genius Monday that Moghadam had resigned.

“[Moghadam] annotated the piece with annotations that not only didn’t attempt to enhance anyone’s understanding of the text, but went beyond that into gleeful insensitivity and misogyny, he wrote. “All of which is contrary to everything we’re trying to accomplish at Rap Genius.”

But according to Recode, Moghadam was asked to leave the company.

People stand during a candlelight vigil held to honour the victims of the mass shooting in Santa Barbara.

Rap Genius did not immediately respond to request for comment, however Mr Lehman said in a statement the decision to publish the manifesto with annotations were an attempt at adding understanding to the piece.

“However, Mahbod Moghadam, one of my co-founders, annotated the piece with annotations that not only didn’t attempt to enhance anyone’s understanding of the text, but went beyond that into gleeful insensitivity and misogyny. All of which is contrary to everything we’re trying to accomplish at Rap Genius.”

Mr Lehman went on to say the comments would be deemed unacceptable if posted by a user, and Mahbod was no exception.“In light of this, Mahbod has resigned — both in his capacity as an employee of the company, and as a member of our board of directors, effective immediately.

Mahbod is my friend. He’s a brilliant, creative, complicated person with a ton of love in his heart. Without Mahbod Rap Genius would not exist, and I am grateful for all he has done to help Rap Genius succeed. But I cannot let him compromise the Rap Genius mission — a mission that remains almost as delicate and inchoate as it was when we three founders decided to devote our lives to it almost 5 years ago,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post and is republished here with permission.

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Originally published as Rap Genius CEO Mahbod Moghadam leaves company after offensive comments on Elliot Rodger’s manifesto