Furthermore, we know how important the task of discrediting survivor testimony is to the Epstein class as a whole, because we saw it play out very publicly in 2017 with the #MeToo movement, and the organized backlash against it by abusive men with positions of power in our society. How would the world's most famous pedophile, and those in his orbit respond to a society-wide shift in the discourse encouraging us to "believe women" and survivors? Well, if his inbox is any indication, #Epstein himself helped organize the backlash to discredit the movement, at the prompting of Michael Wolff; who is being exposed as an enabler for Epstein's influence trading operation and image rehabilitation efforts, through these file releases.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/06/epstein-files-metoo
Epstein said he was ‘asked everyday’ for advice on #MeToo: ‘So many guys reaching out to me’
"But when taken together, the emails, texts and other documents contained in the releases reveal Epstein’s engagement with the #MeToo movement and the men felled by it. In some cases, the convicted child sex offender and a coterie of elites strategized over how to blunt the power of the #MeToo movement and the women who fueled it.
“So many guys caught in the me too . reaching out to me. asking when does the madness stop,” Epstein wrote in December 2018 to a recipient whose identity is redacted."
Like every article about Epstein plotting with influential people, this piece is a hot mess that simultaneously drops too many bombshell revelations to keep track of, while also minimizing how deeply incriminating all of this is for literally anyone emailing the world's most famous pedophile blackmailer for advice on how to handle sexual assault, abuse, and harassment allegations against them or their rich friends. I guess if you know you're guilty, you turn to the guy who literally got away with a sex trafficking ring through networking and top flight public relations management, right?
If you want all the good dirt, you're going to have to read the whole article but let's put publicist #PeggySiegall, intellectual #NoamChomsky, and technologist #JoiIto on the "confirmed friends and confidants of Epstein who vented with him about #MeToo" list, "journalist" #RichardWolff, and scientist #LawrenceKrauss on the "strategized with Epstein about how to discredit survivor accusations and accounts in the wake of the #MeToo movement" list, and noted creep abusers outed during the #MeToo reckoning #StephenElliott and #LorinStein on standby because we don't have them talking to Epstein directly, but Richard Wolff sought out Epstein's advice on their behalf and it would appear that Elliot in particular acted on that advice.
And that is the part I want to focus on, because while I'm tempted to believe The Guardian buried the lede here, the reality that Epstein was deeply involved in developing a strategy to protect other powerful rich men accused of abusing their status to engage in sexual violence and harassment against women is exposed in the article - they just broke it up into two parts.
"Wolff wanted Epstein to support Stephen Elliott, a writer looking to sue the creator of the Shitty Media Men List, a crowd-sourced Google Doc that detailed anonymous allegations of misconduct against dozens of men who worked in the media industry.
“I have always thought that the way back from this climate is through specific instances of individuals successfully challenging their persecution,” Wolff wrote to Epstein, according to emails released in a tranche from the so-called Epstein files. “If his story is solid he might be worth supporting.”
Initially, Epstein was unmoved. In a single-word, no-punctuation email, the convicted sexual offender replied: “tough.”
“Give it some further thought, if you would,” wrote Wolff, who had originally received Elliott’s pitch through Lorin Stein, the former editor of the prestigious Paris Review and another name on the Shitty Media Men List. “I think there is an opening here. What you need is an excuse – or opportunity – to make the public argument.”
Epstein relented: “ill help anyway i can. if you like.”
Weeks later, Elliott sued Moira Donegan, the Shitty Media Men List’s creator."
Of course, we only have access to the Epstein emails already released, so all we know is that tons of influential people seemed to think Epstein was the go-to guy on #MeToo; which is incriminating in its own right. But as the Guardian slyly notes later, the proof of the plot is kind of in the pudding.
"Wolff’s apparent suggestion, that accused individuals file lawsuit proved prescient, since defamation lawsuits have become a major feature of the backlash to #MeToo. As of last year, nearly a fifth of the 400-plus cases supported by the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, a post- #MeToo organization that helps people who survived sexual harassment at work, were in defense of someone sued for defamation."
Folks the plot to erase "believe women" as an IDEA goes deep.
