Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Les Wexner’s Ohio State Exit and the Investigation Into Epstein-Linked Doctors (8/27/26)

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Les Wexner’s Ohio State Exit and the Investigation Into Epstein-Linked Doctors (8/27/26) · Beyond The Horizon

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we have two articles that
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: we're going to dive into. One has to do with
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner and him stepping down as chair of Ohio
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: State University's Wexner Medical Center Board. And the other article
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: has to do with doctors that are being investigated in
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  Speaker 1: New York in relation to their ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: So why don't we just dive right in and start
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: with the article from the Ohio Capital Journal about Les Wexner. Headlined,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner Stepping Down as Chair of Ohio State University
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  Speaker 1: Wexner Medical Center Board. The author of this article is
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  Speaker 1: Megan Henry. Central Ohio billionaire Les Wexner is stepping down
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  Speaker 1: as chair of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
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  Speaker 1: Board after continued scrutiny over his relationship with the late
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: convicted child sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Well,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: a little too late, no? This should have happened a
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: long time ago. But Ohio State was very, very, very
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: insistent that Les Wexner wasn't going anywhere. But there has
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: been a lot of pressure and a lot of people
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: that have come out and complained about what's going on
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: as far as Wexner and his involvement with projects like
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: this one. And that criticism hasn't just come from outside forces.
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  Speaker 1: There has been a lot of internal conversation about Wexner
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  Speaker 1: and his place at Ohio State University, especially after the
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  Speaker 1: wrestlers who were abused on campus sent a letter asking
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the university to get rid of Wexner. So not exactly
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  Speaker 1: the kind of publicity that you want hanging around your university, right? Wexner, 88,
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  Speaker 1: will remain on the board as chair, but he is
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  Speaker 1: no longer a voting member, university spokesperson, Ben Johnson said,
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  Speaker 1: Les Wexner has stepped back from his role as chair.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Les and Abigail have been great supporters of the university
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  Speaker 1: for many years, and we appreciate his ongoing service on
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: the committee, Johnson said in a statement. So it's basically
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  Speaker 1: the same thing they did over at Apollo, right? Oh, well,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Leon Black's going to step down, and he's no longer
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: part of, you know, the voting board, but he'll still
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: be around. Why don't you just cut ties completely? Now,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I understand that Les Wexner is a golden goose for them,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: and I get it, right? I understand. But you mean
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  Speaker 1: to tell me there's no other rich people that are
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  Speaker 1: alumni from Ohio State that want to help the university,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: that want to donate? I have a hard time believing that.
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  Speaker 1: A spokesperson for Wexner declined to comment. Robert Schottenstein will
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: likely replace Wexner's place as chair, according to a resolution
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: set to be approved at the September 1st meeting. New
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: board chairs always refresh the committee structure and appointments, Johnson
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: said in the statement. In other words, we're going to
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: try and get rid of the people that Wexner has around.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: It's like the saying, a new broom sweeps clean. So
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: you get a new manager, you get new management. A
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: lot of times there's a lot of changes for the company, right?
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Or in this case, for the board. And I think
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: that's going to be very much apparent here. Not sweeping changes, right?
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: but you get a new guy in here, he's going
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: to want some of his people around him. Schottenstein is
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  Speaker 1: the chief executive officer and president of Columbus-based MI Homes Incorporated.
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  Speaker 1: He was a trustee of Ohio State University from 2005
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  Speaker 1: to 2014 and served as a chairman of the board
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  Speaker 1: from 2012 to 2014. So somebody that is very familiar
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: with how things work and somebody that is already ensconced
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  Speaker 1: within the university. Now, I don't know much about Mr. Schottenstein,
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  Speaker 1: so I can't really comment further than that, but anybody
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: is better than Les Wexner. Schottenstein did not respond to
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: a request for comment by the Ohio Capital Journal, and
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I don't think he will. What's the point? I think
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  Speaker 1: he'll wait until he is elevated, and then from there,
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  Speaker 1: you'll get a statement from him. Wexner, the billionaire founder
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  Speaker 1: of L Brands, who lives in New Albany, was deposed
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  Speaker 1: by members of Congress in February about his relationship with Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: Wexner was listed as an alleged co-conspirator of Epstein in
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  Speaker 1: a 2019 FBI document, the same document listing Wexner as
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  Speaker 1: a co-conspirator says there is limited evidence of his involvement.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, limited evidence, is it? Maybe, just maybe, you
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  Speaker 1: should have listened to Virginia, who credibly accused Les Wexner
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  Speaker 1: of taking part in the abuse. But I guess we'll
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: just forget about that, right? and all those weak-ass Republicans
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  Speaker 1: who didn't even bother to go talk to him? How
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  Speaker 1: embarrassing you people are. You would think that if you
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: want to get to the bottom of what Epstein was
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  Speaker 1: up to, Bless Wexner would have been one of the
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  Speaker 1: first people that you want to talk to. But I
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  Speaker 1: guess not. U.S. House Democrats accused Wexner of facilitating Epstein's
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  Speaker 1: alleged sex trafficking ring. Wexner has denied any wrongdoing. Epstein,
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  Speaker 1: who died by suicide, allegedly, In a New York jail
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  Speaker 1: in 2019, after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges,
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  Speaker 1: was Wexner's personal financial advisor from 1997 to 2007, during
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: which time Epstein reportedly misappropriated millions of dollars. I don't
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  Speaker 1: believe that. I think that was their baked-in scheme in
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: case Epstein was ever caught. This is how we'll cut ties.
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  Speaker 1: This is how I'll protect you. This is how you'll
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: protect yourself. That kind of deal. Wexner graduated from Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State in 1959, went on to found L Brands in 63,
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  Speaker 1: which created Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works, and Abercrombie
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: & Fitch. Schottenstein previously served as a member of the
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: board of L Brands. Yo, when I was growing up,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Abercrombie & Fitch was like all the rage. And they
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: were selling like cut up ass holy jeans for like
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  Speaker 1: a hundred bucks. And we're talking about, you know, the
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: late 90s, 2000s here. And even during the time, I
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: had no idea what the draw was when it comes
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: to Abercrombie & Fitch. I'll stick with a pair of Levi's.
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  Speaker 1: Less than his wife, Abigail Wexner, and the Limited Brand
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  Speaker 1: Foundation have given, raised, or pledged more than $ 200 million,
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  Speaker 1: Johnson said. Ohio State University has received 500 requests to
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  Speaker 1: remove Wexner's name from university buildings, which remain under consideration,
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  Speaker 1: Johnson said. I doubt that's going to happen, but it should.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Les Wexner should not have his name on any of
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  Speaker 1: these buildings, in my opinion. The name requests are not
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: related to Wexner stepping down his chair, Johnson said. In
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  Speaker 1: addition to the Wexner Medical Center, Wexner's name is on
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  Speaker 1: two other buildings at Ohio State. The Wexner Center for
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the Arts is named after Les' late father, Harry Wexner.
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  Speaker 1: Wexner's name is on the Les Wexner Football Complex at
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. All right, so there's the
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: latest update on Les Wexner and him stepping down. Now
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  Speaker 1: on to the second article, and this one is from TMZ.
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  Speaker 1: The headline, New York Department of Health reviewing doctors linked
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  Speaker 1: to the pedo. This article was authored by TMZ staff.
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  Speaker 1: The New York State Department of Health says it's taking
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: a closer look at allegations involving doctors connected to Jeffrey Epstein,
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  Speaker 1: telling us the claims raised in recent media reports are
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: deeply troubling and warrant review. So we're talking about people
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: like Eva Dubin. We're talking about people like Henry Jurecki.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking about the dentists and all the other doctors
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  Speaker 1: that were involved when it comes to all those clandestine
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: meetings that were happening between Epstein survivors and these doctors. Remember,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: they weren't sending them to the emergency room. They would
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: have them go see people like Eva Anderson Dubin, and
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: then she'd hook them up one way or the other,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: whatever that might be. But now that's all under review,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: and it should be. I mean, how many of those
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: girls were being abused and signs of abuse were ignored
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  Speaker 1: by the doctors that were treating them? Now flip the script,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: and if they went to the emergency room or a
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: regular doctor, well, Epstein wouldn't be protected, would he? A
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  Speaker 1: spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health tells
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  Speaker 1: TMZ that the agency cannot discuss details. of ongoing investigations,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: but says officials are taking the allegations seriously, and they
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  Speaker 1: should be. Again, this is something that needs to be
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  Speaker 1: looked into. Who was helping Epstein? Who helped promote the abuse?
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  Speaker 1: Who helped enable it? And who helped hide it? Because
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: he couldn't do it all on his own. So obviously
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  Speaker 1: there was a lot of other people involved. The question is,
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  Speaker 1: who are they? And if they're going to be held accountable?
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  Speaker 1: The spokesperson added that the department condemns any abuse by
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  Speaker 1: medical staff and any abuse of a physician's role that
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  Speaker 1: undermines patient trust and safety, including predatory or unlawful behavior.
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  Speaker 1: The department declined to provide additional comment citing the sensitive
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  Speaker 1: nature of the matter. The spokesperson added, We extend our
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  Speaker 1: support to all victims and survivors of medical misconduct, physical
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: or sexual abuse. and encouraged any patient who believes they
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  Speaker 1: may be the victim of professional medical misconduct to file
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  Speaker 1: a complaint. And that's where it all starts, but a
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  Speaker 1: lot of these women, they're scared to do that. They
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  Speaker 1: don't want the blowback, and they don't want the criticism
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  Speaker 1: that comes with it. The department statement comes amid renewed
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  Speaker 1: scrutiny of Epstein's relationship with members of the medical community
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  Speaker 1: after the Department of Justice released their names in the
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Epstein files. A New York Times investigation identified the various
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  Speaker 1: physicians linked to Epstein, but the NYSDH did not have
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  Speaker 1: any comment on specific names with respect to its investigation.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: And they're not going to give that away. the investigation's ongoing.
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  Speaker 1: And if we get an indictment, then obviously that'll change.
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  Speaker 1: But as of now, I don't see them giving us
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  Speaker 1: any information about what they're working on. For now, the
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  Speaker 1: New York State Department of Health says it will have
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  Speaker 1: no further comment on the matter as the investigations remain ongoing. Alright,
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  Speaker 1: so there's where we stand with Les Wexner and this
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  Speaker 1: new investigation, or alleged investigation, into medical professionals in New York.
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  Speaker 1: And I have a funny feeling that when it comes
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: to both of these topics, there's plenty more to come.
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  Speaker 1: And as always, we'll be swimming through all that muck
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  Speaker 1: looking for some clarity. All the information that goes with
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  Speaker 1: this episode can be found in the description box.