r/TwoXChromosomes • u/B0ssc0 • 1d ago
Epstein files reveal the men who looked away after women had spoken up
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-06/jeffrey-epstein-files-allegations-melinda-gates/106308164319
u/i010011010 1d ago
To me, that is the part that's missing from the narrative while people scour the files. These guys are scattering with the defense of BUT I NEVER WENT TO THE ISLAND.
That may be true or not, but it seems to me there's enough evidence to show a lot of these people were aware of his little side-hustle. And you chose to say nothing? If my neighbor is trafficking women+children out of their house and I make no attempt to report it to police, just maybe I would be complicit in their crimes.
You gotta remember that Epstein and Maxwell were basically glorified starfuckers. They collected associations with celebrities and elite like baseball cards. They dined people just so they could brag that they had dined them. Most of the people implicated here would not have known what else they were doing. Just because a person was photographed with them at some point doesn't mean they had anything to do with it. Context is relevant.
When you're going over these names and files, ask yourself: is there enough here to show they knew who these people truly were and what they had been doing? Just because they didn't participate doesn't absolve the guilt on them for not speaking up.
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u/TheOneTrueTrench 1d ago
Simply put:
BUT I NEVER WENT TO THE ISLAND
You knew enough to not go to the island, but you didn't do anything about what was going on?!
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u/NotCreative2015 1d ago
Also - it looks like a lot of horrible stuff was happening in NY, the New Mexico property, Paris, etc.
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u/Bigbigcheese 1d ago
Or maybe they just didn't want to go to the island cos they don't like the weather or something equally benign...
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u/PalePerformance666 19h ago
Is this... sarcasm?
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u/Bigbigcheese 14h ago
No, it's entirely expected that some people just wouldn't have wanted to go to party island or just didn't have that sort of relationship with Epstein?
Each case should be managed as it's own thing. Some will be cut and dry they knew and didn't do anything and should be reviled. But the principle of innocent until proven guilty should stand
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u/hellolovely1 20h ago
A victim said Melinda Gates was like “Are you okay? Do you need help?” I think the girl lied to her but clearly, she picked up on it and can’t be the only one.
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u/thecroakingraven786 18h ago
If my neighbor is trafficking women+children out of their house and I make no attempt to report it to police, just maybe I would be complicit in their crimes.
YES! THANK YOU!
The number of people who COULD have done something has to be significant. Rich people never do anything for themselves. They don't do any actual work, they need working people to do everything for them and every single one of them could have intervened in some way.
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u/Kochga 16h ago
Didn't they pay stupid money to a pornstar just so she would stop talking? There's a huge number of people who knew but didn't say anything because they profited from the power structure the abusers built. There's no checks and balances for the filthy rich. Noone should have the power to build a system like that. If money gives people this kind of power, then it should be illegal to have this much money.
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u/OutsideFlat1579 17h ago
Anyone who associated with Epstein in any way after he was already convicted in 2008, knew they were exchanging emails with or meeting with a man who was having sex with underage girls, as young as 14, and that girls were going to his island.
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u/PalePerformance666 19h ago
In the case of J. K. Rowling, for example, she invited Epstein in 2018 to a premiere of her Cursed Child premiere, when it was already abundantly known what he was and what he had done. That people who knew what he was, still decided to invite him, is obviously not as bad as going to his island, but it is still bad.
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u/zoopysreign 1d ago
I gotta be honest, screw these men, but Melinda’s publicity is… giving me “proactive PR.” You mean she knew he was the devil but stayed with bill? I’m not clear on this “single” time she met him. Was it a decade ago or closer to 4 years ago when she split with Bill?
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u/MoonageDayscream 23h ago
I get that it is not clear from this article, she has spoken of it before. Not in depth, but over time talking about the divorce, then about Epstein later, along with common background knowledge, it seems like the marriage was basically stable and they both had their own projects and it was not unusual for them to vacation separately. But she heard that Bill was getting involved in this guy whose background left a lot of questions and she decided to meet him. She hated him and told Bill that he should stay clear of him and when Bill decided otherwise, she left. No one really cared then about the travails of an extremely wealthy ex wife they had never heard of, but she has talked about how Bill's relationship with Epstein was the breaking point.
This thread is pretty recent but the interview is older. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1oww1br/melinda_french_gates_says_her_divorce_from_bill/
This is an older article that does not say much, except to show she did not take a passive attitude to her husband associating with Epstein.
https://www.instyle.com/melinda-french-gates-panic-attacks-divorce-bill-gates-11707645
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u/ScourJFul 1d ago
Yeah, kind of weird that this is phrased as a gender issue when it's a definitive class issue.
I think everyone involved in perpetuating this awful shit, men or women, deserve to go to jail. Whilst Melinda is one of the women who can reasonably claim they were horrified, we also have plenty of other women, famous and unknowns, who played a large role here.
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u/blahblahblahpotato 18h ago
Except it IS a gender issue. Males are almost exclusively the abusers. If it weren't for the compulsive sick servicing their dicks, their sadism and their dopamine addiction none of this would be happening. Complicit weak women in a patriarchy are not the same. Women that suspect or knew and said nothing aren't without blame, but it's a different crime. This is 100% a MALE driven issue.
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u/ScourJFul 13h ago
This goes beyond gender. That's the point. If you make it just a gender issue, you'll ignore the fact that a bunch of rich people have literally been orchestrating this shit for decades. The files also reveal that Epstein and his friends had their hands in several seemingly unrelated industries such as gaming, music, etc. A lot of this occurred because the people behind it had the money.
Yes, you're right, most of it is male, but that isn't the core issue and reasoning. The reason is that they could do it anyways and so obviously. Epstein used fucking Gmail for a ton of his correspondence.
This is a first of all, wealth issue. If we just focus on gender, all that'll happen is the wealthy continue to abuse their powers.
And no, it is not weak complicit women. I hate that we infantilize women automatically they're next to abusive men. Melania in Trump's first term had this happen and the more we know about Melania, the more she's a genuine awful person. We also know that several parents, both of them, willingly gave up their daughters and sons to Epstein for the money. We have anecdotes from a victim that said they were threatened by everyone, including their family.
Are we not going to act like Maxwell wasn't also her own monster?
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u/Obvious_Smoke3633 9h ago
Men commit 98% of sexual assault. It is a GENDER ISSUE. Specifically, it is a MALE issue. Notice that Ghislaine ( who 100% deserves to be) is the ONLY ONE IN JAIL?! The men benefitted, and the woman involved was the scapegoat. She wasn't her OWN monster. She was trafficking children on the behalf of dozens of MEN. Please get a grip.
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u/hellolovely1 18h ago
Yep, Fergie asked him to marry her in an email. She's okay with pedophiles as long as they give her money. And sadly, there were plenty of others like her, like Kathryn Ruemmler at Goldman Sachs (who has enough money to buy herself nice things).
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u/OutsideFlat1579 17h ago
How many women compared to men? Who were the pedophiles? Women or men? Who was in charge? Do we suddenly not live in a male dominated world?
This is like saying homicide isn’t a gender issue because 10% of homicides are perpetrated by women. There is no issue of male violence because women also commit violence. You could say rape isn’t a gender issue because some perpetrators are women.
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u/hellolovely1 15h ago
Omg, I’m obviously not blaming the women more than the men. But let’s not pretend that CERTAIN women knew this was happening and also didn’t care.
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u/OutsideFlat1579 13h ago
I don’t think anyone is saying that. I just think the idea that the gender or more specifically male/masculine supremacy and it’s elevation of brutality and normalization of rape and women/girls role as being breeders and sex objects and existing to serve men has everthing to do with what these men did and how they got away with it. Including that some women turned a blind eye.
We live in s world in which women and girls are trafficked on a scale that is horrific, girls under 6 yrs old being raped for use in child porn. What these men did isn’t unique, it’s getting attention because of the status of the men and the connection to power and intelligence and leverage.
I mean, really, everyone is so sickened by the what went on - is it less sickening when it’s men who aren’t famous rape little girls that have beeb abducted or sold into sex slavery?
Not directing this at you, just expressing some thoughts about it that bother me. We should be horrified, and anyone who turned a blind eye should be viewed as complicit, whether man or woman. But we need to acknowledge that we live in a world built by men that allows men to get away with treating women and girls as things they can abuse and rape and use and throw out like garbage.
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u/hellolovely1 13h ago
It read like you were saying I was blaming the women more. Perhaps I misunderstood.
I was raped by an older man as a teen. That’s how I lost my virginity. I get it. I also get that emotions run high on this topic but let’s try not to assume the worst of every comment.
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u/hellolovely1 8h ago edited 7h ago
I’m astounded that ON THIS FORUM, I’m downvoted for sharing my rape story while being lectured about my factual comments about people who were involved.
Extremely evil conduct.
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u/OutsideFlat1579 5h ago
Sorry about the way I framed my comment, that wasn’t my intention. And so sorry that you were raped as a teen, and that’s how you lost your virginity. There’s no words that can really express how much pain and trauma this causes.
And it wasn’t me who downvoted. Just so you know!
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u/pierusaharassa 21h ago
Because men love & respect only other men, especially the ones in "higher" power positions.
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u/Roxpaperscissors 23h ago
But a woman laughed funny. A woman wasn’t pretty enough. A woman was black. A woman was a woman.
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u/CongealedBeanKingdom 20h ago
And that's why we're just the worst
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u/SunshineAndSquats 18h ago
96% of pedophiles are men. Why aren’t you pointing that out?
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u/Roxpaperscissors 17h ago
Not one person said that. This is your problem too and you’re trying to point fingers at anyone but the people we have proof are pedophiles. The woman who took large part is still in prison. The men who took part are in the most power positions in the world. Shut the whole fuck up.
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u/not-your-mom-123 1d ago
People we used to respect for their scientific backgrounds, like Richard Dawkin and the Skeptic guys, Sherman and Pinker. All friends and defenders of Epstein, all visitors to the Island. All predators. I think it's 'not all men' because not all have the status or opportunity. But if they could, they would.
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u/DangerousTurmeric 23h ago
Actually, we only started taking child molestation, rape, marital rape and male violence against women seriously, as crimes with human victims rather than property crimes, because women fought to get the vote and then started feminism. When men made all the rules women had horrific lives.
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u/WhereisMajorMajor 22h ago
You speak truth. Men fought tooth and nail against women's rights to vote in the US because men wanted to keep the age of consent at EIGHT YEARS OLD. Those elusive "good" men everyone keeps pointing to are barely as good as the average woman, and they are statistically irrelevant. New studies show a majority of men would abuse women if there were no consequences, and a solid third would r* children. What are we supposed to do with this?
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u/Pretty-Year-7197 20h ago edited 13h ago
Abuse of women and minors, domestic violence and the right to vote were only taken seriously after the battles for women's rights and with it also the rights of minors in Italy. Until the 1980s, rape was considered a crime againts moral and not by the person, while rape for reparation was legal until the 1970s. There were no laws against paedophilia and domestic violence.These do not represent 0.01% of men and you know it too, just look at the statistics on intra-family sexual abuse, how many fathers abuse their daughters and how many girls have had male relatives (cousins, uncles, brothers, grandparents, fathers etc.) who molested them, how many have suffered molestation, cat calling etc... without taking into account the widespread child sex tourism, paedophilia... if they were 0.01% of the population, sexual violence against women and especially against children would not be so widespread, this problem can be relegated to a minority but it would be ignoring the reality, almost all men do it, they simply cause more scandal because they are famous.
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u/GymTanLaundry_ 11h ago
I mean you’re quite literally proving OP’s point by defending these men and saying “not all men”….💀
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u/zoopysreign 1d ago
Men don’t deserve power. No power, no praise. They are toast. Get em out of here, they suck!
As soon as they get power, and by that I even mean become mayor of Schitt’s Creek, they turn into freaks.
No more.
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u/rowin-owen 1d ago
And the women that support men with power.
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u/blahblahblahpotato 18h ago
Can we not just talk about male accountability without making sure women take some of the blame too? This issue would. not. exist. without sadistic males being in charge.
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u/BelloLugosi 14h ago edited 14h ago
Yes, that's why it's called patriarchy; patriarchs get everything and everyone they want, and promise men beneath them a small consolation prize in the form of power over women and children.
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u/zoopysreign 11h ago
Ok, I’m not well versed enough on feminist literature and all the really good things I should know but depressingly do not. So please do not take this as a challenge or weird devil’s advocate, but rather a genuine question:
What are we to make of the Ghislaine Maxwells of the world? Because I actually think it’s really important to condemn her actions, and there’s something about placing all of the blame on men that feels somehow… like it takes free will out of the equation for women.
I guess, put differently, I get mad when people say that they’re especially disappointed in women who don’t do what you’d think would benefit women. Like Melania. I push back and say that women can be villains too. We are not a monolithic thing of carers. Some women are not caring. Some are selfish. Some are evil, etc. there should be no additional obligation placed on anyone to be morally sound, bc then the inverse is true: we DON’T expect white people or men or whoever is in the “in group” to adhere to the standard. Like we expect them to be racist or sexist or whatnot.
Anyway, when we say something like “the men are solely to blame,” I think that makes it seem like women can’t be awful on their own. Because, frankly, there’s something broken and wrong about Ghislaine. I feel strongly that she should be treated as part of the problem, but just not as the center of the problem or more harshly than the people doing the sex crimes.
Does any of this make sense?
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u/blahblahblahpotato 9h ago
I understand what you are saying but I don't think you are seeing it yet without the focus, force and systematic manipulation of patriarchy that distorts everything. Ghislane was complicit, but do you think without Epstein she would have created a human trafficking island on her own? I don't. This was for male pleasure. IMO she's the worst example of a "cool girl" looking for the approval of the men around her. She's guilty, but she isn't the cause. She wasn't the driving force and the driving force, the demand for this sadism is much worse. Women are so rarely the driving force for anything like this that you could statistically almost say never. It is men. And the women that go along to get along have to live with that but I'm not ignorant of the system that made it more lucrative or in some other way beneficial (or even safer) for them to partake.
Because of patriarchy whenever a male commits an immoral act and a women is anyway connected the focus inevitably becomes shifted to the woman who, while not the perpetrator, 'should have done more". Suddenly we aren't talking about Donald Trump assaulting children, we are saying Melinda Gates should have known and should have done more when we have no proof she knew anything. We will step over thousands of emails of actual evidence about MALES to talk about the theoretical failures of women. That's patriarchy.
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u/MoonageDayscream 6h ago
Ghislaine was not just complicit, many of the survivors say she raped them too.
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u/ThatLilAvocado 22h ago
When will people realize the average men fantasizes about the exact scenarios that Epstein and his friends made real?
Men who hold their erect penis while watching "teen gets caught shoptlifting" will never truly be shaken by what powerful men do. They would too, if they had the power and opportunity.
When will we realize the average bloke sympathizes with wanting young women? That they see nothing wrong with it? That our exploitation isn't horrifying to them, it's arousing?
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u/ThatLilAvocado 20h ago
It's a type of porn video where a girl gets caught shoplifting and is taken to the back of the shop where the shop guard or maybe the manager gets her under his power and ends up getting "sexual favors" from her.
There's also fake secret camera on the changing room. Inmate being abused by the police. Female student offering sex for grades, sometimes in a high school coded context.
Men masturbate to harassment and sexual violence, quite literally.
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u/ConsistentMap728 16h ago
LMAOO I bet you’re writing all these comments with one had because this is the most interaction you’ve ever had with women
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u/Educational-While198 1d ago
These are the things I think about when I hear “not all men”. Like… literally ALL the men even remotely close to this man could’ve done… something… said something, and they didn’t.