Epstein Files Fallout: Everyone Has an Opinion. Nobody Has the Facts.
How vibes replaced evidence and everyone became a prosecutor
Back in July, I wrote a post about the “Epstein List” and we have since moved on to the Epstein Files.
Back then, I said the following:
”And frankly, I believe the Press Secretary on this one - it’s full of child porn and a contact list. The minute we see all these names, we’ll associate them with Epstein. And, honestly, it just isn’t fair. And most people who don’t run in those circles will not get it - but if you’re part of a big powered social scene, you’ll be on people’s speed dials, whether you are tight or not.”
And boy, was I right. Nobody is asking me about this, but my spider sense keeps going up every time I open up any form of social media.
Elon Musk - wants to go to the island, not invited, then now just comes out with he’ll pay legal defense for victims
And every one of them is like, “Dude, no way did I have anything to do with this. What?”
This, by the way, is why I have always been careful to steer clear of people who feel skeezy to me, even if they offer potential upsides to me in some way. I’m not getting dragged into stuff like this. Peace. Out.
Anyway, recently two specific posts on Reddit got my hackles up and I want to talk about this because I feel like if even ONE of you stops doing this, the world will be a better place.
Brett Ratner
So, here’s one of the threads in question: “Guy clearly lies when asked about young lady.” Check out the comments:
”The dude is a predator is written all over his face”
”Guy is blinking, stuttering and moving around nervously. Yes, totally believable.”
”20 years ago he was dating Serena Williams, that does not look like Serena Williams. Must be confusing trying to remember all his relationships because a lot of them overlapped and weren’t consensual.”
”Isn’t that the First Lady?”
The amount of claims on the guy threw up a huge red flag for me, so I watched the video first. He doesn’t look like he’s lying to me at all. He is like, “This is ridiculous and I’m going to respect her privacy.”
But I don’t have to, huh? So twenty years ago, right? Like 1996 or so? He had a fiance? Let’s run to Wikipedia. Oh look, he had a 13 year relationship with Rebecca Gayheart when they were young. Serena Williams was in the 2000s.
Jump to Rebecca’s page and you get: “She and Ratner were engaged in 1997, but the couple separated in 1999.” So there you go.
Oh, but there’s a whole conspiracy that it’s Melania he’s with that they talk about in the thread:
Okay, hold up. As soon as I saw this and the “same highlights” - duuuuude, this was my era, too. I literally had a class around the time and my teacher accused all my friends and I of conforming because of peer group because . . . WE ALL LOOKED LIKE THIS.
Right down to the chain bracelets.
So look, Brett Ratner is accused of some stuff and it’s ironic that he’s the director of Melania which is the shadiest, weirdest movie produced lately. I’m not saying he’s perfectly innocent. But he’s definitely snuggling a teenage girl that’s probably Rebecca Gayheart.
Oh wait, but she has curly hair. Unless she straightens it.
So, that thread doesn’t ask a single question about the veracity of his claim, but doing the research - it seems legit. I posted a little about this in the thread (but I know better than to fight people on the Internet) and I only got one response that was like, “Nah.” Watch the video again, what do you say?
The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is in the files, too. Epstein wanted to meet him. But here’s an unrelated post: “Why does the Dalai Lama play this game with children, trying to get them to touch his tongue?”
First of all, as far as I know, it happened ONCE. The question is asked in bad faith. And again, look at the responses.
”The hell you mean "suck my tongue" with his freaky ass”
”I wonder if he is in the Epstein files”
”Tibetan monks are known in China for raping children and a lot of sexual abuse, also for engaging in slavery during their time in power. These people are not the saints the West and specially the U.S have portrayed for political reasons.”
”Yall act like epstein is the only island. LAMA has his own island probably”
Dude. Just a SHRED of curiosity and you can explain this away.
Nancy Guthrie
Here’s another one that really bums me out. Talkshow host and reporter Savannah Guthrie’s 84 year old mom is kidnapped. The entire internet is sure from the snippets that Guthrie has released they know what happened. Speculation is wild. She’s dead, it’s the brother in law, blah blah blah.
NOBODY, and I mean, NOBODY in those comments is offering informed opinions, because people who are informed on such matters know it’s best not to share them.
This excellent book by Chris Voss explains a lot about what the tactics are. I’ve read it. I’ve learned other things, too. Those videos Guthrie are releasing are carefully curated by the FBI to do certain things. I’m not going to share more because I don’t want to affect the recovery of Nancy, but just like . . . shut up. Your opinion isn’t needed or valid online. It’s fun to talk about with your friends but the whole world sees this.
So what is wrong with us?
The world exists in tiny snippets. I’ll post this post and nobody will read it, but they’ll react to the headline. All opinions are valid. Yours especially so.
We are becoming an incurious, unkind society because the Internet encourages engagement and it encourages rage and judgement.
And here’s the part nobody likes to sit with: none of this requires you to be evil.
It just requires you to be bored, online, and a little too confident in your own instincts.
You don’t need proof. You don’t need context. You don’t even need curiosity. You just need a vibe and a comment box.
That’s how reputations get flattened, grief gets turned into entertainment, and real harm gets trivialized. Not by monsters, but by regular people killing time.
So maybe the move isn’t having a hotter take or a sharper theory.
Maybe the move is closing the app, saying “I don’t actually know,” and letting that be enough.