Valeria Chomsky: We were deceived and careless in ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Chomsky statement and context

Valeria Chomsky said she and her husband Noam made a "grave mistake" and were "careless" in not thoroughly researching Jeffrey Epstein after documents revealed ongoing contact between the pair and the disgraced financier. She wrote that Epstein deceived them, presenting himself as a science philanthropist and cultivating access with gifts, dinners and invitations; the couple attended events at his New York townhouse, apartments and New Mexico ranch but, she said, never visited his island or knew of criminal activity there. Valeria said they were unaware of the full extent of Epstein's crimes until his 2019 arrest and that Noam shared her regret before his 2023 stroke.

Valeria framed Noam Chomsky's 2019 message advising Epstein to ignore media attacks as contextually rooted in his own experience with public controversies, not as dismissal of women’s claims, and said Epstein exploited that stance to rehabilitate his image. She also clarified two financial interactions: a $20,000 check tied to a linguistic challenge and $270,000 Epstein helped recover when Noam found inconsistencies in his retirement funds, saying Epstein acted as an advisor in that narrow matter and had no access to their accounts. She apologized on behalf of both of them for the lapse in judgment and expressed regret over being entangled with Epstein’s manipulative approach, as reported by The Guardian

This story has also been reported by: Middle East Eye