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 furious backlash and threats of a boycott after he offered jobs to university students protesting in support of Palestine. 

Andrew Dudum, who identifies as Palestinian-American, voiced support for the student protesters across US campuses on X.

'Moral courage > College degree,' the CEO, 35, wrote on Wednesday. 'If you’re currently protesting against the genocide of the Palestinian people & for your university’s divestment from Israel, keep going. It’s working. There are plenty of companies & CEOs eager 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 skincare.

Critics were quick to react to Dudum's message, with many social media users saying they will be cancelling their HIMS subscriptions and asking others to do the same.

Stocks of the company had fallen 4 percent soon after midday on Thursday. 

Andrew Dudum, who identifies as Palestinian-American, voiced support for the student protesters across US campuses on X

Andrew Dudum, who identifies as Palestinian-American, voiced support for the student protesters across US campuses on X

Stocks of the company had fallen4 percent soon after midday

Stocks of the company had fallen4 percent soon after midday

Conservative writer Ben Domenech wrote: 'If you support Israel, cancel your HIMS subscription s immediately. You can get similar products elsewhere for cheaper anyway.'

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of software company Palantir Technologies, also weighed in, saying 'Real moral courage doesn't involve joining a mindless mob, chanting anti-US and other woke Pablum, following instructions not to debate or discuss your positions at all yet being indignantly righteous, while large numbers in the mob chant for violence and block Jewish students.'

Many pointed out that Dudum may be harming the interest of shareholders who may not agree with him, given that HIMS is a publicly-traded company. 

Others shared screenshots of the cancelation of their subscription, with one X user writing as the reason: 'Your CEO supports Hamas.' 

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

He wrote a blog post in November calling for a ceasefire and lamenting that companies were still supporting Israel after its counterattack had already killed an estimated 10,000 Palestinians.

'Now, a month past the October 7th attack, we find ourselves in a world where Israel has killed an estimated 10,000 Palestinians with over 4,000 innocent children in a military response that nearly all international experts decry as violations of international law and human rights,' Dudum wrote.

READ MORE: THE PROTESTS SWEEPING AMERICA
Campus protests have swept America in recent weeks sparking uproar and fears among Jewish students

Campus protests have swept America in recent weeks sparking uproar and fears among Jewish students

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And the messages of unequivocal support for Israel are still sitting on our corporate pages — untouched nor updated.'

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

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

He is married to  Lea Dessi-Olive, CFO at floss company Cocofloss.

Dessi-Olive's last activity on X show she is also passionate about the Palestinian cause, as she shared posts accusing Israel of apartheid. 

In another post from September, 2021, she shared a video of John Legend criticizing Israel. The couple also shared a picture with the singer the same month.

Dudum's stand comes in contrast with other CEOs who have said they will not hire students participating in the pro-Palestine protests. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to HIMS for comment on this story. 

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

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

He is married to Lea Dessi-Olive, CFO at Cocofloss. They are seen with John Legend

He is married to Lea Dessi-Olive, CFO at Cocofloss. They are seen with John Legend

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

Dessi-Olive's last activity on X show she is also passionate about the Palestinian cause, as she shared posts accusing Israel of apartheid

Dessi-Olive's last activity on X show she is also passionate about the Palestinian cause, as she shared posts accusing Israel of apartheid

Early Thursday, officers surged against a crowd of demonstrators at University of California, Los Angeles, ultimately taking at least 200 protesters into custody after hundreds defied orders to leave, some forming human chains as police fired flash-bangs to break up the crowds. 

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

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

Israel has branded the protests anti-Semitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. 

The NYPD moved to clear Hamilton Hall in Columbia University on April 30

The NYPD moved to clear Hamilton Hall in Columbia University on April 30

A pro-Palestinian protestor is arrested at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 29

A pro-Palestinian protestor is arrested at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 29

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

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right of students to peaceful protest but decried the disorder of recent days.

The demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 with students calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, 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, on October 7 and took roughly 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel.