The “most hated man in America” is coming to Princeton. For those who are unfamiliar with Martin Shkreli, he first faced public outrage for raising the price of Daraprim, a drug used by HIV patients, by over 5,000 percent.
The disgraced former CEO, once a hedge fund manager, has also been accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Arrested in December 2015, Shkreli is currently out on $5 million bail, but he must respect federally mandated travel restrictions. He lives in New York, where he has taken to the internet to spread his vitriol.
Shkreli is scheduled to appear on Friday at an event hosted by the Princeton Corporate Finance Club. He had been invited to speak earlier this year by the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club, but the event was canceled in January after Shkreli sexually harassed a journalist and was banned from Twitter.
Tickets to Friday’s free event sold out in less than a week.
It is disturbing to think that sexual harassment, denying medication, and general vulgarity have only served to skyrocket an exploitative pharmaceutical exec’s popularity among students. Why do people want to see him? Why was he invited at all?
In emails sent to residential college listservs, PCFC notes that this Friday’s event is “non-partisan” and that PCFC “neither endorses nor opposes” the speaker. The club has been unclear, though, about the stated goal of the event, which has been publicized as a “conversation” with Shkreli.
PCFC’s website states that the club’s mission is to “serve as an educational and networking platform for students interested in ... corporate finance.” It is unbelievable that Shkreli — who awaits trial for securities fraud charges related to his now-defunct hedge funds — meets PCFC’s standards for educational speakers.
As publicity for the event has made clear, however, Shkreli’s renewed invitation to campus might be better explained by his public notoriety and internet fame.
The poster for PCFC’s event includes two photos of the “pharma bro”: one is from his Congressional hearing last February; the other depicts him with his arms thrown up, wearing a black hoodie with “CEO,000,000” printed on it. The poster also features screenshots that allude to Shkreli’s short-lived stint in the Facebook group Princeton Memes for Preppy AF Teens.
Shkreli joined this group this past March, but he was removed by admins after complaints of provocation and harassment. Students, for their part, would often engage with him in a part-ironic, part-serious banter, to the general amusement of the group. One screenshot of a student's direct message conversation with Shkreli gained upwards of 180 likes.
For some students, Shkreli is appealing because of his extreme accessibility. Students may not support his actions, but internet fame can be seductive. They’re curious — and curiosity seems like a pretty neutral position.
What is dangerous about engaging with Shkreli, however, is that every meme, every screenshot, and every like adds to his accumulative visibility. Mass media empowers those who are seen and heard, no matter the content.
Irony and detached interest, meanwhile, do not cut through, resist, or in any way challenge Shkreli’s morally deplorable actions. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Shkreli, engaging him indirectly supports him and his views. It legitimizes his nonsense by making him ever more visible.
PCFC’s event enacts a physical realization of the joking, ambivalent, and ultimately blind banter that attracted students in the Facebook group. Shkreli is coming to campus because he is internet famous. Students are going to see him because he’s creepy and crazy.
None of these reasons justify giving him a platform at Princeton.
Controversial figures have been invited to campus before, and it is manifestly valuable to debate people you disagree with, but this situation is not a question of free speech.
This is not a debate between two members of the corporate world who have differing financial practices and ethical stances. This is not a talk given by a controversial but reputable scholar or politician. This event, so obscurely publicized, is not even obviously dedicated to discussing anything of significance.
There is no defensible argument for inviting Shkreli to speak, especially given his pattern of poor character, dishonest business practices, and utter disregard for ethical drug pricing. PCFC should cancel the talk on Friday. No refund needed.
Crystal Liu is a philosophy major from Princeton, N.J. She can be reached at mengqian@princeton.edu.
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