Rap Genius Cofounder Mahbod Moghadam Resigns After Elliot Rodger Comments

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Rap Genius co-founder Mahbod Moghadam speaks during the DLD Conference at the HVB Forum on January 20, 2013 in Munich, Germany.

Image: Flickr, Hubert Burda Media

By Jason Abbruzzese2014-05-26 20:34:03 UTC

Mahbod Moghadam, co-founder of the popular lyrics site Rap Genius, has resigned from the company's board of directors following controversial comments regarding the manifesto of suspected gunman Elliot Rodger, according to a report.

Maghadam wrote a series of annotations on a version of Rodger's tome uploaded to Rap Genius, stating that parts were "beautifully written" and saying that he guessed Rodger's sister was "smoking hot."

See also: Elliot Rodger: Portrait of a Lonely Outcast Obsessed With Status

The company announced the departure in a blog post on its site.

"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," Tom Lehman, co-founder & CEO of Rap Genius, wrote in the post.

Maghadam posted an apology to Twitter on Monday, although he did not specify the exact reason.

Maghadam also released a statement to Valleywag after his comments received widespread attention:

I was fascinated by the fact that a text was associated with such a heartbreaking crime, especially since Elliot is talking about my neighborhood 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 judgement, I am very sorry for writing it

Rap Genius did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Topics: Business, Elliot Rodger, Media, rap genius, Startups, U.S.