Tucker Max on the cover of his book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. I assume this picture makes it clear what genre of books Tucker Max writes.

Two months ago, on February 1, Susan G. Komen for the Cure (the famous breast cancer research and awareness foundation) announced it would no longer fund $600,000 in breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics. Planned Parenthood’s national president, Cecile Richards, said at the time, “We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure. Our greatest desire is for Komen to reconsider this policy and recommit to the partnership on which so many women count.”

Just two days later, on February 3, Komen reversed its decision after enduring a great deal of backlash for its decision to stop providing funds to Planned Parenthood.

Fast forward two months later to yesterday, April 3: public relations strategist Ryan Holiday wrote at Forbes.com about his efforts to help his client, infamous fratire writer Tucker Max, donate half a million dollars to Planned Parenthood.

Max told Holiday: “Ryan, I have a huge tax burden this year. I can reduce it with a large donation to charity, but I want to promote my new book at the same time. Can you come up with something cool that does both?”  Holiday then suggested the donation to Planned Parenthood to get a clinic named after Max as a way to reduce his tax burden and improve his public image.

For those of you who have never heard of him, here is a list of Tucker Max’s books:

• The Definitive Book of Pick-Up Lines (2001)
• Belligerence and Debauchery: The Tucker Max Stories (2003)
• I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2006)
• A******* Finish First (2010)
• Hilarity Ensues (2012)
• Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers (2012)

(I’ve opted to censor the curse word in the title of his 2010 book for those of you reading this at work or near your kids.  Visit the NSFW TuckerMax.com at your own risk; you’ve been warned.)

Needless to say, Max has been repeatedly called a misogynist and was even deemed a “poster child for the vulgarity [sic]” in a federal court ruling.

Planned Parenthood turned down the $500,000 donation from Tucker Max, expressing their concern about the way people perceive Max’s writing. They eventually told Max, “We don’t feel it would be appropriate, given Planned Parenthood’s mission and your body of work, to accept your donation.”  An exasperated Max responded, “What? I thought Planned Parenthood’s mission was about helping women, not passing judgment on humor.”

(The argument that Planned Parenthood didn’t want to participate in a Tucker Max publicity stunt doesn’t hold water because Max offered to make the donation anonymously after the initial rejection, but Planned Parenthood turned his anonymous donation down too.)

Considering Planned Parenthood was “alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure” when Komen (initially) decided to end its $600,000 in funding for Planned Parenthood, it’s rather hypocritical for them to turn down $500,000 in funding from Tucker Max on the basis of the perception of his writing.