In late May Mahbod Moghadam, one of Rap Genius’ co-founders, resigned from the company following annotations he made regarding Elliot Rodger and his California killing spree.
Moghadam’s annotations, which have since been deleted from the site, were placed on Rap Genius in May. In his annotations, Moghadam says at least part of Rodger’s document is “beautifully written” and that Rodger’s sister is likely “smokin hot.”
While the Rodger incident publicly shamed Moghadam and was used as the reason for his resignation, Business Insider recently published a piece on why it may have not been the only reason for his departure.
The BI piece sites Moghadam as “a loose cannon” and the Mark Zuckerberg/Nas picture incident where he took a picture of the two after Zuckerberg told him not to. He would later apologize but also tell an interviewer, “Zuck can suck my dick.”
AD LOADING...
The article also sites Dan Gilbert’s recent announced investment in Rap Genius. His investment came after Moghadam was fired and the assurance of no more antics (it was also after the Rodger annotation and Google traffic incident).
However, it would ultimately be the Elliot Rodger annotation that had Mahbod Moghadam released. According to the piece, they had “suffered enough self-inflicted wounds.” Rap Genius cofounder Tom Lehman later addressed his firing in a post on the website.
“Mahbod is my friend,” Lehman wrote. “He’s a brilliant, creative, complicated person with a ton of love in his heart. Without Mahbod, Rap Genius would not exist … 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.”
Read the full story here.
AD LOADING...
RELATED:Rap Genius Co-Founder Mahbod Moghadam Resigns Following Elliot Rodger Manifesto Annotation
