New York Times columnist David Brooks was put in his place on Monday night by none other than John Legend.
Brooks wrote a column called "The Thought Leader," about...well, best let him explain:
The Thought Leader is sort of a highflying, good-doing yacht-to-yacht concept peddler. Each year, he gets to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative, where successful people gather to express compassion for those not invited. Month after month, he gets to be a discussion facilitator at think tank dinners where guests talk about what it’s like to live in poverty while the wait staff glides through the room thinking bitter thoughts.
He doesn’t have students, but he does have clients. He doesn’t have dark nights of the soul, but his eyes blaze at the echo of the words “breakout session.”
Many people wonder how they too can become Thought Leaders and what the life cycle of one looks like.
It went on from there.
Many people reading the column may very well have thought, "Many people wonder this? Hmmm."
Fortunately, Legend was there to speak up on behalf of all the befuddled masses:
We'll give Legend a million points for calling Brooks out, but we're going to subtract 6,000 points for his assumption that any of Brooks' other columns are not written for an audience of about 500.
(h/t Capital New York's excellent Media Pro newsletter)