Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Leon Black’s Epstein Fallout Stopped at the Museum Door (Part 1) (8/18/26)

Transcript

Leon Black’s Epstein Fallout Stopped at the Museum Door (Part 1) (8/18/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
0:03
Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Whenever we talk about the upper crust or
0:08
Speaker 1: higher society, I always tell you that the only sin
0:12
Speaker 1: is not having any dough. And when we're talking about
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Speaker 1: the art world, especially the higher end art world, that's
0:21
Speaker 1: definitely the case. And I think that the situation with
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Speaker 1: Leon Black and MoMA and the art world in general
0:30
Speaker 1: shines a light on that, because if you thought that
0:33
Speaker 1: Leon Black was going to be ostracized by the other
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Speaker 1: people that are in the quote unquote high end art world,
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Speaker 1: you have not been paying attention. This man has billions
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Speaker 1: of dollars of artwork. This man is ensconced in that
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Speaker 1: portion of society. And I don't think there's anything that
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Speaker 1: Leon Black could do to have those other people kick
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Speaker 1: him out of the quote unquote club, unless, of course,
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Speaker 1: he goes broke, because that's the only real sin when
1:04
Speaker 1: we're talking about these degenerates who call themselves elite. Today
1:09
Speaker 1: we have an article from Vanity Fair and the headline
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Speaker 1: the art world has tacitly decided Leon Black is not canceled.
1:17
Speaker 1: This article was authored by Nate Freeman in late June.
1:22
Speaker 1: Leon Black, co founder of the hedge fund, Apollo Global Management,
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Speaker 1: and one of the world's biggest art collectors, walked into
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Speaker 1: a congressional office building and talked about his relationship with
1:32
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein. I mean, if you want to call it that,
1:36
Speaker 1: he was obstinate, said he was going to do whatever
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Speaker 1: he wanted, and he wasn't going to answer any questions,
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Speaker 1: at least not the ones that needed to be answered.
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Speaker 1: So let's not act like Leon Black was this well
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Speaker 1: of information where he showed up to Congress and gave
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Speaker 1: everybody all the answers they were looking for. That didn't happen,
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Speaker 1: and it's never going to happen. The only way to
2:00
Speaker 1: go after somebody like Leon Black is to hit his
2:03
Speaker 1: ass with a rico charge. And that's what it should
2:06
Speaker 1: have happened the first time around in twenty nineteen. All
2:09
Speaker 1: these people that funded Jeffrey Epstein, all these people that
2:12
Speaker 1: were sending money to him on a regular basis and
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Speaker 1: getting money back, breaking news. You're part of the conspiracy.
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Speaker 1: For decades, Black had brought Epstein into every aspect of
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Speaker 1: his finances. Now, seven years after Epstein's death and six
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Speaker 1: months after the release of all of Epstein's correspondents. The
2:33
Speaker 1: House Select Committee was putting Black back on the stand.
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Speaker 1: In his opening statement, Black swore he never knew Epstein
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Speaker 1: as a monster. He merely knew him as a moneyman
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Speaker 1: and had no inkling of how Epstein was apparently deceiving him.
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Speaker 1: And this is the out right Oh well, I had
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Speaker 1: no idea about the sexual assault, bitch. You knew about
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Speaker 1: the money laundering at the very least you were involved
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Speaker 1: in it. So what are we even doing here? Why
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Speaker 1: are we avoiding the biggest part of conversation. Now, I
3:01
Speaker 1: understand it's not the most salacious part, but if you
3:04
Speaker 1: want to hold these people accountable, this is the way
3:07
Speaker 1: to do it. Unfortunately, that's not what this is about.
3:12
Speaker 1: Epstein falsely claimed I've been involved in decisions and my
3:15
Speaker 1: decisions about investments, Black told the House Committee. According to
3:19
Speaker 1: an official transcript, he asserted that he had influence over me.
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Speaker 1: He said false, ambitious things about my wife and children.
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Speaker 1: He duped and deceived, and he did so repeatedly. In short,
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Speaker 1: with the release of the Epstein files, I now appreciate
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Speaker 1: the full extent to which Epstein was a despicable individual
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Speaker 1: and a liar. This was a side of him. I
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Speaker 1: didn't know. I knew Jekyl, I didn't know whyde bitch.
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Speaker 1: You knew both of them, and you funded both of them,
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Speaker 1: and you didn't care one single bit about the shit
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Speaker 1: he was up to. You sure didn't care when you
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Speaker 1: had him reaching out to his buddies in the FSB
3:55
Speaker 1: about Gozelle Ganieva dig You you lie in reprehensible piece
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Speaker 1: of shit. And I say that confidently, Okay, Leon Black,
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Speaker 1: in my opinion, gigantic piece of shit. What sort of
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Speaker 1: dude is engaging in an affair? Well, he has a
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Speaker 1: sick wife at home. I'll tell you what kind of dude.
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Speaker 1: The same kind of guy that's going to break bread
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Speaker 1: with Epstein and be Epstein's buddy. That kind of guy.
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Speaker 1: The hearing ended abruptly after the committee asked Black about
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Speaker 1: the existence of NDAs, including one with a woman with
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Speaker 1: whom he had an extra marital affair. The woman broke
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Speaker 1: the NDA to accuse Black of sexual impropriety. Black has
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Speaker 1: denied the allegations. Oh, of course he has not me.
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Speaker 1: I would never do that. I'm just, you know, an
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Speaker 1: old fellow who likes art. Black's lawyers decided to walk
4:44
Speaker 1: anger seeping through their legal ease. As Black and his
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Speaker 1: legal team left the room, the committee's general counsel issued
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Speaker 1: subpoenas for his return. Black has reportedly agreed to appear
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Speaker 1: for a deposition in September to produce the NDAs representative
5:00
Speaker 1: for Black did not respond to vf's request for comment. Oh,
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Speaker 1: I'm sure he's going to come up there and have
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Speaker 1: a whole other bag of excuses. And the sad truth
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Speaker 1: is Congress is going to accept them. And that's because
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Speaker 1: Congress was never interested in really holding people accountable. They
5:15
Speaker 1: want to play politics. That much is apparent, and believe me,
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Speaker 1: I got a few things to say about that in
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Speaker 1: an upcoming episode. But even as Black was under oath
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Speaker 1: in Washington, he went about his life elsewhere at two
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Speaker 1: of New York's most prestigious museums. Yes, following the Epstein morass, Black,
5:35
Speaker 1: citing health issues, did walk away from every role he
5:39
Speaker 1: held out Apollo CEO, the chairmanship, the director position. Yet
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Speaker 1: in the years since Epstein's final days in jail and death,
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Speaker 1: Black has remained a trustee at MoMA. The Midtown Institution
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Speaker 1: cinema headquarters is still called the Deborah Leon Black Family
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Speaker 1: Film Center, and this summer. Visitors to the Mets Rafael Show,
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Speaker 1: one of the season's biggest blockbusters, were greeted by a
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Speaker 1: list of supporters, including Leon and Deborah Black. Oh isn't
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Speaker 1: that nice? Jeffrey Epstein's buddy, Jeffrey Epstein's financier, Jeffrey Epstein's
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Speaker 1: fellow traveler. But sure, let's just welcome him to the event.
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Speaker 1: Reason four hundred and thirty six, five hundred and fifty
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Speaker 1: six that I don't want to be invited to any
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Speaker 1: event that people like this are involved in. Talk about
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Speaker 1: an eyes wide shut type of situation. Black personally owns
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Speaker 1: two Raphael's, including drawing he bought at Christie's in two
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Speaker 1: thousand and nine for nearly fifty million. He loaned one
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Speaker 1: from his collection to the show. Oh isn't that nice?
6:47
Speaker 1: Can somebody ask Leon if he'll lend us one of
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Speaker 1: the photos one of the drawings for the show, give
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Speaker 1: me a break? Fifty million dollars. What a fucking joke,
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Speaker 1: an absolute joke. Even after leaving Apollo, Black retains one
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Speaker 1: of the world's greatest private art collections. Christie's would at
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Speaker 1: one point appraise it at two point seven billion. And
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Speaker 1: you know why. He has so much art right well,
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Speaker 1: because it's non taxable, he can just keep hiding it,
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Speaker 1: keep moving it, keep funneling it, keep shuffling it. Isn't
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Speaker 1: that enjoyable to know? As April fifteenth rapidly approaches once again,
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Speaker 1: I spotted Black not long ago at Freeze, Los Angeles.
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Speaker 1: He was at Art Basel, Miami Beach, hidden only by
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Speaker 1: a pair of sunglasses as recently as December of twenty
7:35
Speaker 1: twenty four. Last September, he sat in good seats at
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Speaker 1: Flushing Meadows to take in the men's final at the
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Speaker 1: US Open. The next day showed up at a private
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Speaker 1: dinner at MoMA. Life is not going to change for
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Speaker 1: these people. I hate to be the bearer of bad news,
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Speaker 1: but until there's some kind of criminal action taken, forget it.
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Speaker 1: And I think the most frustrating part is that there's
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Speaker 1: so much there as far as criminality. And again, let's
8:04
Speaker 1: put the human trafficking to the side when we're talking
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Speaker 1: about Leon Black. Let's just focus on the money and
8:11
Speaker 1: all the other stuff will fall into place. But there
8:14
Speaker 1: is no doubt in my mind that there was financial
8:17
Speaker 1: malfisms occurring and criminality go in both ways. The following week,
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Speaker 1: he attended a dinner celebrating sixtieth anniversary of Gallery Gumerzinska.
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Speaker 1: On multiple occasions over the last few years. Well, at
8:33
Speaker 1: a Knicks game, I've spotted and perched in his normal seats,
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Speaker 1: not court side, but in the third row opposite the bench.
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Speaker 1: Must be nice to be Leon Black. Must be nice
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Speaker 1: to do whatever you want and have zero consequences. Oh,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to step down from my CEO role. Big deal.
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Speaker 1: How much money did you lose? Oh that's right none.
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Speaker 1: What kind of repercussions have there been for your family?
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Speaker 1: Oh that's right none. Isn't your son part of the
9:01
Speaker 1: president's administration. Black is frequently mentioned in the same breath
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Speaker 1: as Epstein, but he hasn't been canceled exactly, Not in
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Speaker 1: the New York social scene and not in the art world.
9:13
Speaker 1: More broadly, told you, how long have I been telling you?
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Speaker 1: There is only one penalty, being broke. That's the one
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Speaker 1: thing they can abide by. Oh, you can hurt kids,
9:25
Speaker 1: you can hurt women, you can traffic guns, you can
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Speaker 1: be a dictator, you can be an oligarch, whatever it
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Speaker 1: might be. But you better not be broke. Neither is
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Speaker 1: Bill Gates even if the tech mogul stepped away from
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Speaker 1: his foundation after being exposed in the Epstein files, And neither,
9:44
Speaker 1: of course, has President Donald Trump, who once allegedly drew
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Speaker 1: Epstein alude cartoon of a woman's body with a note reading,
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Speaker 1: may every day be another wonderful secret? Trump is denied
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Speaker 1: writing the card and drawing the cartoon. Oh oh, okay,
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Speaker 1: denied it, so we could just move on. And isn't
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Speaker 1: it funny there's no demand for somebody to authenticate this.
10:08
Speaker 1: You would think that if somebody's impersonating the president and
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Speaker 1: turning over evidence they say was created by the president,
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Speaker 1: that if the president thinks it's fake, he'd have some
10:17
Speaker 1: kind of investigation finding out who forged it. But we
10:20
Speaker 1: don't see that, dew. We just a lawsuit. So it
10:23
Speaker 1: looks like he's doing something. But the truth is, according
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Speaker 1: to all the sources, according to all the evidence, certainly
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Speaker 1: looks like that was a letter sent by Donald Trump.
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Speaker 1: And if he's not telling the truth about that letter
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Speaker 1: that note, then what else is he not telling the
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Speaker 1: truth about? My guest? A whole fucking bunch. There's no
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Speaker 1: indication that Black is stopped buying art either after the
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Speaker 1: May evening sales at Christie's and Southbee's in New York.
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Speaker 1: Sources were buzzing that Black was among those chasing down
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Speaker 1: a Miro from the collection of Conde Nas owner say Neuhause,
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Speaker 1: which sold for a record fifty three and a half
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Speaker 1: million fifty three and a half million dollars. Can you
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Speaker 1: imagine the obscene wealth these people have to be able
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Speaker 1: to blow that kind of money on art that's just
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Speaker 1: going to sit there, maybe not even in their house, hell,
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Speaker 1: probably not at their house. So do you think they're
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Speaker 1: just buying this because, oh, we love art, it's so great?
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Speaker 1: Or do you think there is an ulterior motive? Do
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Speaker 1: you think they're trying to avoid taxes? Do you think
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Speaker 1: they're looking to stash their money? Do you think they're
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Speaker 1: looking to use a vehicle that's not available to the
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Speaker 1: rest of us. I have a sneaking suspicion that Leon
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Speaker 1: Black's love of art is really the love of stashing
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Speaker 1: the bucks. That's what I think the art's all about.
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Speaker 1: Black began collecting in earnest in the mid nineties, when
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Speaker 1: he purchased, among other trophies, a JMW. Turner that had
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Speaker 1: broken the record for the most expensive painting ever sold
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Speaker 1: at auction in nineteen eighty four. Early on, he bought
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Speaker 1: Van Gouh's quarry near a Saint Remy from Steve Wind
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Speaker 1: for forty six million. His collecting ramped up right as
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Speaker 1: Apollo began its era, defining run as a distressed investing phenom,
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Speaker 1: capitalizing on the collapse of the savings and loan industry.
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Speaker 1: By nineteen ninety five, it's one point five billion dollar
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Speaker 1: fund had attracted main street investors to Wall Street, the
12:16
Speaker 1: General Motors Pension Fund was one of its primary backers.
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Speaker 1: And look, there's no doubt that Apollo Global is very
12:24
Speaker 1: powerful when it comes to their positioning. And that's why
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Speaker 1: it's so damning and dangerous to have a guy like
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Speaker 1: Leon Black not face repercussions. Do you mean to tell
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Speaker 1: me that if it was somebody a teacher out of school,
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Speaker 1: they'd be getting away with it. They wouldn't be canceled,
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Speaker 1: they'd be invited to the neighborhood dinner. Of course not.
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Speaker 1: But when you got the dough that Leon Black has,
12:46
Speaker 1: you have the pull that Leon Black has, and you
12:48
Speaker 1: know the people that Leon Black knows, it's a whole
12:50
Speaker 1: last different story. And unfortunately when we're talking about the
12:53
Speaker 1: upper crust to society, they just don't care. They don't
12:57
Speaker 1: care about you, they don't care about your kids, they
12:59
Speaker 1: don't care about your life. And you know who's included
13:02
Speaker 1: in that upper crust of society, all those lay ass
13:06
Speaker 1: politicians you love to argue about. You think those people
13:09
Speaker 1: care about you, any of them. They do not. They
13:13
Speaker 1: care about winning re election and finding a way to
13:16
Speaker 1: pill for our wealth. That's all they care about. And
13:20
Speaker 1: the fact that so many people line up behind these
13:23
Speaker 1: folks and march to their insane tunes is crazy to me.
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Speaker 1: I just don't understand it, because one mattra that I've
13:29
Speaker 1: always lived by is this, if it's fucked me, then
13:33
Speaker 1: it certainly fuck you. So I'm under no illusions about
13:36
Speaker 1: these people that call themselves high society or these politicians.
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Speaker 1: And I think one of the best examples of how
13:43
Speaker 1: little they care about what we think is by having
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Speaker 1: people like Leon Black still be part of their little
13:50
Speaker 1: functions and not just you know, in the background, but
13:53
Speaker 1: a gigantic part of it. So for me, when people
13:56
Speaker 1: talk about the Epstein class, this is what it means.
14:00
Speaker 1: The men of always that continuously step on the neck
14:04
Speaker 1: of the children of Never. All Right, folks, we're gonna
14:07
Speaker 1: wrap up right here, and in the next episode, we're
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Speaker 1: gonna pick up with the second part of this article
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Speaker 1: and finish it off. All the information that goes with
14:15
Speaker 1: this episode can be found in the description box.