He is a philosopher, linguist, political scientist, intellectual, activist, one of the flags of fighting journalism in the world. However, his image has been tremendously damaged since photos of him with , the American pedophile who committed suicide in 2019, have emerged.
It’s not that he appears at one of those massive parties where countless celebrities came out, for very diverse, more serious and more fortuitous reasons, but that he has been seen traveling on the tycoon’s private plane, the one in which he took his guests, for example, to , where “wild parties” were held, in the words of the owner of X, . It has been devastating, a true myth that falls apart for many, as happened before with Woody Allen, for example.
Now Chomsky, 97, is ill and cannot communicate, so it has been his wife, Valeria, who has ended up facing the barrage of criticism. She has done so through a statement in which she recognizes the friendship that united the researcher and herself with Epstein, which she now describes as a “serious mistake.” “We were careless,” he assumes, by not thoroughly investigating the millionaire’s background. They also feel “deceived” by him.
It has been the latest batches of documents released by the US Department of Justice that have revealed this unexpected friendship. For now there is no evidence that the linguist was related to any of the sexual crimes that led Epstein to prison and death and his partner and ex-girlfriend, , to serve 20 years in prison for seeking out defenseless girls for his abuse.
When Epstein was investigated for sex trafficking allegations in 2019, he asked Chomsky for advice on how to respond to that media surge, that’s what the papers reveal. “I have seen the horrible treatment you are being given by the press and the public. It is painful to say, but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it,” Chomsky wrote in a message signed “Noam,” which Epstein shared via email with a collaborator. The way they communicate is based on trust and prior mutual knowledge.
“What the vultures crave is a public response, which in turn provides a public opportunity for an avalanche of venomous attacks, many of them coming from mere publicity seekers or cranks of all kinds,” Noam Chomsky wrote in the message. “This is especially true now with the hysteria generated by the abuse of women, which has reached the point where even challenging an accusation is a crime worse than murder,” he elaborates.
Chomsky, it is now known, is one of several prominent people who maintained friendly communication with Epstein even after his guilty plea in 2008, which caused the more cautious to get out of his way. There were 10 more years of abuse ahead. It was the press, the one that Epstein abhors, that uncovered the first abuses: it was the the one who told how he took advantage of underage girls from families with social and economic problems, most of them unstructured.
This Saturday, Valeria Chomsky acknowledged that the couple had read that story, but said she was not aware of the extent of Epstein’s crimes, she only became aware after his second arrest, in July 2019.
The statement
“We were negligent in not thoroughly investigating his background. It was a serious mistake, and for that error in judgment, I apologize on behalf of both of us. Noam told me, before his stroke [fue en 2023]who felt the same. “It was deeply disturbing for both of us to realize that we had had a relationship with someone who presented himself as a helpful friend, but who led a hidden life of criminal, inhuman and perverted acts,” the academic’s wife now maintains.
Valeria Chomsky, who is the linguist’s second wife and has been married to him since 2014, maintains that the advice Chomsky gave in 2019 to Epstein about rehabilitating his image should be understood “in context” with the moment.
“Epstein had declared to Noam that he was being unfairly persecuted, and Noam spoke from his own experience in political controversies with the media. Epstein created a manipulative narrative about his case, which Noam, in good faith, believed,” he said in his statement. “It is now clear that everything was orchestrated, and that at least one of Epstein’s intentions was to try to get someone like Noam to repair Epstein’s reputation by association,” he says.
Furthermore: “Noam’s criticism was never directed at the feminist movement; on the contrary, he has always supported gender equality and women’s rights. What happened was that Epstein took advantage of Noam’s public criticism of what became known as the to present himself as a victim of her,” he added.
“Regular contact”
Another message from Chomsky, released by the House oversight committee last year, shows Chomsky stating that it had been a “very valuable experience” to have “regular contact” with Epstein (it is unclear if the message reached anyone). Other messages show Epstein sharing a phallic joke with Chomsky, and Chomsky “fantasizing about the Caribbean island.”
Valeria Chomsky claimed that the couple attended dinners at Epstein’s New York home, stayed at his apartments there and in Paris, dined at his ranch in New Mexico, and attended multiple academic meetings with him. He assured that they “never” went to their island “nor knew anything about what was happening there.”
Noam and Epstein met in 2015 and the couple were unaware of Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor under 18, according to Valeria Chomsky. She added that Epstein presented himself as a philanthropist interested in science, she now insists.
“Epstein caught Noam’s attention and they began to write to each other. Without knowing it, we opened the door to a Trojan horse”
By introducing himself in this way, Epstein caught Noam’s attention and they began corresponding. “Unknowingly, we opened the door to a Trojan horse,” he said. Epstein began surrounding Noam, sending him gifts and creating opportunities for interesting conversations in areas Noam has been working on extensively. We regret that we did not perceive this as a strategy to set us up and undermine the causes Noam champions.
Valeria Chomsky also clarified the basis of two financial transactions between Chomsky and Epstein. Epstein once sent Noam Chomsky a check for $20,000 as part of a language challenge the writer developed, he said. He also claimed that Epstein helped Noam recover $270,000.
Epstein helped after Chomsky discovered “inconsistencies in his retirement resources that threatened his financial independence and caused him great distress.”
Epstein offered to help and did so “likely as part of a scheme to gain greater access to Noam. Epstein acted solely as a financial advisor in this specific matter. To my knowledge, Epstein never had access to our bank or investment accounts.” He claimed that neither of them, either individually or as a couple, had investments in Epstein’s office.
