Noam Chomsky and his wife Valeria have come under fire after apologizing for their connection to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The linguist, 97, was one of several high-profile individuals who befriended Epstein despite his reputation for sex trafficking.
Valeria revealed that her husband had received a message from Epstein in 2019, where he asked Chomsky's advice on how to deal with the media scrutiny surrounding his case. In response, Chomsky advised Epstein not to respond publicly and instead ignore the attention, stating it would only fuel more attacks.
However, Valeria has since acknowledged that they were "careless" in not thoroughly researching Epstein's background before befriending him. The couple had met in 2015, with Epstein presenting himself as a philanthropist and friend of science. They attended various events together, including dinners at his townhouse in New York City, and even received financial assistance from him after Chomsky discovered discrepancies in his retirement funds.
In her statement, Valeria claimed that Chomsky had acted out of goodwill and not criticism towards the women's movement, which he has always supported. However, she acknowledged that Epstein had used their friendship to try to rehabilitate his reputation by association.
Valeria also clarified two financial transactions between Chomsky and Epstein, stating that they were purely business arrangements and never involved access to their bank accounts. Despite this, the couple is facing renewed scrutiny over their ties to Epstein, who was arrested twice before his death in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy.
Valeria revealed that her husband had received a message from Epstein in 2019, where he asked Chomsky's advice on how to deal with the media scrutiny surrounding his case. In response, Chomsky advised Epstein not to respond publicly and instead ignore the attention, stating it would only fuel more attacks.
However, Valeria has since acknowledged that they were "careless" in not thoroughly researching Epstein's background before befriending him. The couple had met in 2015, with Epstein presenting himself as a philanthropist and friend of science. They attended various events together, including dinners at his townhouse in New York City, and even received financial assistance from him after Chomsky discovered discrepancies in his retirement funds.
In her statement, Valeria claimed that Chomsky had acted out of goodwill and not criticism towards the women's movement, which he has always supported. However, she acknowledged that Epstein had used their friendship to try to rehabilitate his reputation by association.
Valeria also clarified two financial transactions between Chomsky and Epstein, stating that they were purely business arrangements and never involved access to their bank accounts. Despite this, the couple is facing renewed scrutiny over their ties to Epstein, who was arrested twice before his death in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy.
. Their friendship was all about trying to whitewash his rep, and it's so sad that Valeria only admitted now 
. What if one of the women he hurt knew they were friends with Chomsky? 
they were just trying to be kind i guess you could say they were naive about epstein's rep but come on, it's not like they knew he was a total monster at the time 
and yeah, chomsky has always been super supportive of the women's movement so i'm sure that wasn't the motive behind their friendship 
still, it's weird how our lives can get scrutinized like this even after we've moved on from something 
I mean, you've always spoken out about social justice and human rights, but this is like a whole different story. It's understandable that they didn't know the full extent of his actions back then, but still, it's pretty cringeworthy that Valeria is trying to spin this as Chomsky just being 'careless'. 
I'm all for people owning up to their mistakes and learning from them, but in this case, it feels like a bit of damage control. Can't we just admit that even the most well-intentioned among us can be misguided? 
... like, isn't that kinda the opposite of what you're supposed to do when you're being all shady? 
... is he still super progressive or did this whole thing change my mind about him? 
Yeah, because what's a little sex trafficking when you've got a Nobel Prize to add to your resume? I mean, who wouldn't want to help out a "philanthropist" like Epstein, right? It's not like he was using his influence to silence victims or anything. 
I'm sure Chomsky was totally unaware of Epstein's... let's call them "extracurricular activities". 
I'm shocked by Noam Chomsky's past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein 
. It's crazy how some people try to use their associations for good 
, but in this case, it just looked like damage control 
. It's good that Chomsky has always supported women's rights, but this situation is a tough one to navigate 
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...
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has left me speechless 
. I can understand why they befriended him, but come on 
. It's not like Chomsky didn't know about Epstein's shady past 
. The couple's claim that they were doing him a favor 
. Overall, it's a tough situation for Chomsky and his wife 
. They've apologized, but can we really trust them now? 
. But sometimes, the truth is too uncomfortable to face 
.
. And now, Chomsky and Valeria are facing the consequences of their careless behavior 
.
. And now they're facing this backlash, and I don't know if I think apologizing enough is even the right response at this point 
.
Anyway, according to a study on high-profile individuals who associate with serial killers, 73% of them had no prior convictions at the time they befriended their peers. That's wild! 
. He's not some backstabbing opportunist. And Valeria was probably caught off guard by Epstein's shady dealings too 
so it's weird that he befriended someone like epstein 