The former CEO of Tinder announced this week that he is backing out of a speaking gig at the University of Pennsylvania over its response to the Israel-Hamas war, calling his alma mater an “anti-semitic cesspool.”
Elie Seidman, who led Tinder from Nov. 2017 through April 2020, wrote on X Wednesday morning that he was nixing his visit to the Ivy League school next month.
“I was supposed to speak at Penn in late November. I’m cancelling [sic],” Seiderman said.
“Penn needs to insure [sic] that it is a safe and hospitable place for Jewish students – not an anti-semitic cesspool,” the former Tinder head continued.
“A change in leadership is necessary at this point.”
Last week, Seidman also took to X to agree with Apollo CEO Marc Rowan’s call for UPenn leaders – including President Liz Magill – to resign following their apparent unwillingness to condemn Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel.
“I’m a proud Penn alum grateful for the education I received. And I agree with Scott [sic] Rowan of Apollo that President Magill should resign,” Seidman – who graduated from UPenn in 1997 – wrote at the time.
UPenn and President Magill came under fire in recent weeks after the Philadelphia campus hosted the Palestine Writes Literary Festival last month, which featured speakers who allegedly made “Death to Israel” comments and donned a Nazi uniform.
Just two weeks after the controversial event, Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and slaughtered civilians – but UPenn’s leadership remained relatively tight-lipped.
“It took less than two weeks to go from the Palestine Writes Literary Festival on UPenn’s campus to the barbaric slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis,” Rowan, who is chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Wharton School of Business, wrote in a letter that was printed in the campus newspaper.
“President Magill’s allowing of UPenn’s imprimatur to be associated with this conference, and her failure to condemn this hate-filled call for ethnic cleansing, normalized and legitimized violence that ranged from the targeting of Jewish students and spaces here at UPenn to the horrific attacks in Israel.”
During an interview with CNBC, Rowan also called Magill’s behavior tantamount to an “embrace of antisemitism.”
A few days after Rowan spoke out, fellow UPenn alum and former governor of Utah Jon Huntsman announced that his family would no longer donate to the university as a result of its response to the international tragedy.
“Moral relativism has fueled the university’s race to the bottom and sadly now has reached a point where remaining impartial is no longer an option,” Huntsman – who is the son of late petrochemical billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr. – wrote to Magill late last week.
“Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate,” he added.
Estee Lauder cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder also announced this week that he will “re-examine” his own financial contributions to the school.
Hedge fund billionaire and UPenn graduate Clifford Asness wrote his own scathing letter to Magill, which was later posted on X.
“Imagine Penn’s action if that event was as anti- anyone else other than Jews!? Hiding behind ‘free speech’ when it is a right only embraced for antisemites and other fellow travelers is not ok,” Asness wrote.
The University of Pennsylvania didn’t immediately respond to request for comment Thursday.
Amid the swirl of controversy, however, a UPenn library staffer was caught on camera ripping down posters of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas – which did little to quell the perception that the Philadelphia school was unsafe for Jewish and Israeli students.
Penn Carey Library spokesperson Meredith Rovine told The Post that the incident was under investigation.