Roosh V

Daryush Valizadeh (born June 14, 1979), also known as Roosh Valizadeh, Roosh V and Roosh Vorek, is a former alt-right American blogger and pickup artist.

Valizadeh writes on his personal blog and also owns the Return of Kings website, Roosh V Forum, where he published articles by himself and others on related subjects.

Valizadeh has self-published more than a dozen dating and travel guides, most of which discuss picking up and having relations with women in specific countries.

His advice, his videos and his writings have received widespread criticism, including accusations of misogyny, antisemitism, homophobia, and having ties to the alt-right.

Many of Valizadeh's publications have been taken down.

Valizadeh was born June 14, 1979, in Washington DC, to an Iranian father and an Armenian mother.

Valizadeh graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2001 with a degree in microbiology.

He began blogging about his attempts with meeting women, but once his internet anonymity was broken, he turned to blogging and writing full-time as a means to supporting himself, first with the publication of Bang: The Pickup Bible That Helps You Get More Lays (2007), and then with dating-themed travel guides on the countries he had visited.

In a March 2012 report on "The Year in Hate and Extremism", the Southern Poverty Law Center included Valizadeh in a list of manosphere sites which it described as hateful and misogynistic.

His inclusion on the list was reported by several publications, some of which mocked the inclusion for being extreme.

In response to criticism, the SPLC later clarified that it was not labeling the sites as members of a hate movement, but wished to draw attention to "specific examples of misogyny and the threat, overt or implicit, of violence".

In a 2013 Washington Times Communities interview, he alleges that feminism has left a legacy of weaker men who are more androgynous.

He went on to say that women abstain from having sex with them in preference for "bad boys".

Valizadeh has been described as a men's rights activist by The Daily Beast, Salon, S. E. Smith, and others.

He has expressed qualified support for Donald Trump.

He said that Trump's election as President of the United States would lead to the "death of political correctness".

He has also said The Daily Beast is run by the CIA.

In 2014, The Washington Post columnist Caitlin Dewey stated that Valizadeh was one of a number of internet writers considered misogynist, writing: "Valizadeh owns the website ReturnofKings.com, which bans 'women and homosexuals' from commenting."

Valizadeh began his writing career with advice based on pickup artist culture, although by 2016 no longer identified with the term.

Valizadeh calls his system of beliefs "Neomasculinity", which he describes as a combination of biology and traditional beliefs on masculinity, and as a rejection of "Western degeneracy".

Valizadeh advocates adherence to traditional heteronormative roles for men and women, and believes that feminism has harmed women, men, and society in general.

In addition, he states that men and women are physically and mentally very different and that much of women's value comes from their fertility and beauty.

Valizadeh describes himself as "pro-woman" in that he wants women "to live a life that is according to their biological genetics."

By 2016, Valizadeh had changed his focus from pickup advice to political commentary.

His book Free Speech Isn't Free discusses ways in which, he says, straight men are denied freedom of speech.

On May 30, 2018, DreamHost took down Kings Wiki.

On September 10, 2018, several of Valizadeh's books were removed from Amazon.com's self-publishing platform.

He was also sanctioned by YouTube, another source of revenue for him, for violating their rules.

On October 1, 2018, citing a loss of revenue and traffic due to PayPal's and Disqus's terminating their partnerships with him, Valizadeh announced Return of Kings would no longer be publishing new articles.

In March 2019, Valizadeh converted to the Armenian Apostolic Church and condemned extramarital sex as sinful, also stating that he was embarrassed about the books he wrote in the past, unpublishing some of them.

On May 1, 2021, Valizadeh was received into the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) at Jordanville Seminary in Jordanville, New York.

In late 2023, Valizadeh deleted his websites, citing his desire to live a normal life off the Internet.

On March 29, 2019, Valizadeh announced that after years of backsliding, he had committed himself to God and the Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, but he shortly left the Oriental Orthodox Church for the Eastern Orthodox Church, being baptized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR).

In light of his conversion to Christianity, Valizadeh instituted a set of new rules on his forum in which he banned discussion of extramarital sex; he also removed many of his books from print as he felt they would lead other men into committing sin.

Valizadeh has stated that the "red pill" was a transitory stage in his life before he came to the realization of and taking "the final 'pill': God."

Valizadeh has stated that "The God pill does feel like the final destination, where life becomes about asking Him for help and performing His will in a way that embraces good."

On October 9, 2023, Valizadeh announced that he would be closing the Roosh V Forum down after 15 years of operation, citing his desire to put his Internet presence behind him and the fact he had obtained employment.

Return of Kings had been closed down a year prior, on December 21, 2023, citing Valizadeh's religious views.

The forum closed down on October 29, and remained online as an archive until December 1, when it and his blog were taken down.

The Return of Kings domain is currently parked.