In November 2014, Blanc became the subject of a social media campaign alleging that his old dating advice could encourage sexual violence, involving multiple petitions on those grounds to deny him entry to several nations. On November 17, Blanc made an appearance on
CNN denying these accusations, stating that his comments were "a horrible attempt at humour" taken out of context. Sarah Green from the
End Violence Against Women Coalition, however, said that there was a strong legal case for denying Blanc a temporary work visa for the United Kingdom. She stated that, "Some of the behaviour Blanc demonstrates in his videos amounts to
sexual harassment and
sexual assault."
YouTube videos and social media campaign On September 8, 2014, Blanc posted a video titled "White Aldiyar fucks Asian women in Tokyo (and the beautiful methods to it)" to his
YouTube channel. The video, which has since been removed, shows Blanc presenting a seminar to a roomful of men. In the seminar, Blanc describes his opinion that "sub-communication," not the use of words or methods, is all that matters. He justifies this with his past experience in approaching women in
Tokyo. Blanc comments that "in Tokyo, if you're a white male, you can do what you want" and "all you have to say to kinda like take the pressure off is just yell '
Pikachu' or '
Pokémon' or '
Tamagotchi' or something," as he describes himself in Tokyo "romping through the streets" and "grabbing women" whilst shoving their faces in his crotch, saying "Pikachu". In response to the video, Jennifer Li, an Asian-American woman living in Washington, D.C., initiated a campaign aimed at preventing Blanc from hosting further similar seminars, In an article in the British newspaper,
The Independent, Li asserted that Blanc's video and other content he had posted online taught men how to assault women and that his video taught that "Asian women are a 'free for all' for predatory men," thereby encouraging men to abuse Asian women. Li also reported Blanc's video to the Japanese embassy. Critics of Blanc have claimed that Blanc promotes rape and teaches men how to engage in sex with women by violating their consent and using psychological abuse and sexual violence, that he promotes the view that he and his followers are "intellectual superiors" to whom it is the role of women to subordinate themselves, and that his teachings encourage potential abusers to believe that abusive behavior towards women will not be taken seriously. By November 6, 2014, Li's social media campaign had led to Blanc's and Real Social Dynamics events in
Melbourne,
Brisbane,
Austin, and
Seattle being shut down and in online ticketing service
Eventbrite removing all Real Social Dynamics events from its site. Blanc's Instagram account was also closed, many of his YouTube videos were set to private, and some of the content from his Twitter account was removed.
Response by Blanc and Real Social Dynamics In a November 17, 2014, interview on
CNN, Blanc made a public apology and repudiated the accusations against him. He said that the videos were a "horrible, horrible attempt at humor" and taken out of context, denying accusations of promoting rape or of coaching clients to use domestic violence or abuse to seduce women. Critics denounced Blanc's photos published on the internet with the "#ChokingGirlsAroundTheWorld"
hashtag showing him approaching women and clasping their throats as legitimizing violence and
physical abuse as part of seducing women. Blanc's response was that he did place his hand around their necks but "did not physically choke them", and that his intent in posting the photos in that way was merely to "provoke a shock", and was a "horrible attempt at humor." Julien Blanc shared more details in a later interview with Ryan Holiday, which was published in the Observer:
Visas revoked or denied in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore Blanc's
Australian tour, which had begun in
Sydney on October 29, 2014, was cut short by cancellations prompted by petitions and protests, including a protest of a seminar led by Blanc's assistant Maximilian Berger on a Melbourne River Cruises boat moored on the
Yarra River in
Southbank, Melbourne. The boat company cancelled the seminar booking mid-event, and local police were called in to restore order. Protesters also petitioned to have Blanc deported from Australia. Blanc's Australian visa was revoked on November 6, 2014, and the following day Victoria police confirmed that he had left Australia overnight, Blanc had reportedly already given a series of seminars in London during September 2014, and was scheduled for two return visits to London in late 2014 and early 2015. Under paragraph 320 of the Immigration Rules, the Home Secretary can refuse any visa "on general grounds because of a person's background, behaviour, character, conduct or associations." The UK denied Blanc a visa on November 19, 2014. Following the visa denial, the BBC interviewed documentary maker Tim Samuels about his perceptions of the seminar taught by Blanc featured in Samuels' documentary
The Hunt for Real Men broadcast the previous June. Samuels said he and his team had seen nothing that "crossed the line," but that the videos and photos which later came to light had "cast a shadow" over what had seemed an essentially harmless enterprise. resulted in a joint statement on November 26 by the Singapore's Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and its Ministry of Social and Family Development that Blanc would not be allowed into Singapore, which he had been scheduled to visit during a tour in late 2014.
Other nations Online petitions seeking to cancel seminars conducted by Blanc or other RSD coaches, or to deny entry into specific nations or cities have been launched in several other countries, including
Japan,
Canada, the city of
Amsterdam (
Netherlands),
Argentina,
Iceland,
Ireland,
Germany,
Denmark,
Sweden and
New Zealand. In Japan, customs officials raised the concern that Blanc had not had a proper work permit on his earlier visit to Tokyo. They stated that the crime
kyōsei waisetsu, translated literally as "forcible indecency", appeared to be committed in the video but that such charges require a victim's testimony. In some cases, immigration authorities have indicated an intent to deny Blanc entry into their countries apparently without having been petitioned. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry indicated that
Brazil would deny him a visa if he applied for one, in spite of planned seminars in January 2015. Though Blanc was reportedly scheduled for a visit to
South Korea in December 2014, the Border Control Division of the Korea Immigration Service said that Blanc would be unlikely to gain entry to the country, with an anonymous official telling South Korean journalist Lee Tae-hoon that Blanc's activities ran against the "morals and customs" of the country.
Supporters Blanc's supporters tried to rally around him by claiming that petitions calling for Blanc to be refused entry to various countries amounts to censorship and violation of free speech. Critics of the social media campaigns against Blanc have initiated a counterpetition in his support There were also counterarguments to the "free speech" claims; and counter-counter supporters asserted that freedom of speech does not include freedom to incite violence against women. == Own channel and self-help seminars ==