CEO of hair loss company HIMS sparks outrage and a boycott by offering campus protesters jobs

The CEO of male hair loss company HIMS has sparked angry reactions and threats of a boycott after offering jobs to university students protesting in support of Palestine.

Andrew Dudum, who identifies as Palestinian-American, expressed his support for the student protesters on American campuses on X.

“Moral courage > university degree,” the CEO wrote on Wednesday.

“If you are currently protesting the genocide of the Palestinian people and the divestment of your university from Israel, then continue. It functions. There are plenty of companies and CEOs who would love to hire you, regardless of university discipline.

Dudum then shared a link to apply for a job at HIMS, an online pharmacy that also includes the HERS brand and offers products for erectile dysfunction, anxiety and skin care.

Critics were quick to respond to Dudum’s message, with many social media users saying they would cancel their HIMS subscriptions and asking others to do the same.

Conservative writer Ben Domenech wrote, “If you support Israel, cancel your HIMS subscription immediately. You can get similar products cheaper elsewhere.’

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of software company Palantir Technologies, also weighed in, saying, “True moral courage doesn’t mean joining a mindless mob, shouting anti-US and other people who wake up Pablum, and following instructions to not to debate or discuss your views at all. yet indignantly righteous, while large numbers of people in the crowd shout for violence and hold back Jewish students.’

Many pointed out that Dudum may be harming the interests of shareholders who may disagree with him, since HIMS is a publicly traded company.

Others shared screenshots of their subscription cancellations, with one X user writing the reason: “Your CEO supports Hamas.”

Dudum, who said he has family in Gaza and the West Bank, founded HIMS in 2017.

He wrote one blog post in November it called for a ceasefire and complained that businesses were still supporting Israel after the counterattack had already killed an estimated 10,000 Palestinians.

“Now, a month after the October 7 attack, we find ourselves in a world where Israel has killed an estimated 10,000 Palestinians and more than 4,000 innocent children in a military response that almost all international experts label as violations of international law and human rights’ Dudum wrote.

And the messages of unequivocal support for Israel are still on our corporate pages – untouched or updated.”

In the Medium post, Dudum described himself as “a father whose children are both descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled the Nakba in 1948 and descendants of Holocaust survivors from Poland.”

The entrepreneur, who is also an accomplished cellist, was born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dudum’s stance contrasts with other CEOs who have said they will not hire students who participate in the pro-Palestinian protests.

DailyMail.com has contacted HIMS for comment on this story.

Police have arrested nearly 2,200 people in recent weeks during pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash devices to clear tent camps and occupied buildings.

More than 100 people were taken into custody during the Columbia crackdown, just a fraction of the total number of arrests resulting from recent campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas.

A tally by The Associated Press recorded at least 56 arrests at 43 different U.S. colleges or universities since April 18. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.

On Thursday morning, officers advanced on a crowd of demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles, eventually taking at least 200 demonstrators into custody after hundreds defied orders to leave. Some formed human chains as police fired flash bangs to disperse the crowd.

Police tore down a fortified encampment’s barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and dumpsters, then pulled down canopies and tents.

As at UCLA, tent camps of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread to other campuses across the country in a student movement unlike any this century. Others.

Israel has branded the protests as anti-Semitic, while Israel’s critics say it is using the accusations to silence the opposition.

Although some protesters have been caught on camera making anti-Semitic comments or violent threats, protest organizers call it a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and protest the war.

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended students’ right to peaceful protest but denounced the disorder in recent days.

The demonstrations began in Columbia on April 17, with students calling for an end to the war between Israel and Hamas, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on October 7.