Jean-François Gariépy, a white nationalist YouTuber and podcast host who made his name during the far-right’s “YouTube Bloodsports” phenomena earlier this year, said that he received a large sum of financial support from billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
The Miami Herald reported last month about the details of Epstein’s plea deal for his suspected orchestration of a criminal sex ring involving underage girls. During a moment of the November 17 edition of his podcast, “The Public Space,” Gariépy says that in the interest of being “transparent” with his audience, he wanted to disclose that he had received a large amount of money from Epstein.
At the time of the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation's funding, Gariépy’s YouTube channel was branded “NeuroTV” and featured content about neuroscience. Before sliding into white nationalism, Gariépy was a researcher at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. Now, Gariépy’s channel is frequently home to figures like former KKK leader David Duke, alt-right podcast host Mike Peinovich, and white nationalists Greg Johnson and Richard Spencer.
The mention was noticed by a user on Twitter, who posted a video excerpt:
Well, this explains a lot. pic.twitter.com/dYL40Ik7Ab
— ??Anti-MAP Action Femoid?? (@aterfoddbitch) December 14, 2018
“Jeff Epstein, who we’re talking about here, was an original funder to my YouTube channel,” Gariépy said. “Now, it’s not that I give a shit about this guy. OK, he got arrested after and the fact that he donated to my channel at the very beginning of my YouTube career does not influence me. I’m not trying to find Jeff Epstein innocent in what he’s been accused of. “
He continued, “I may never have talked about it, but Jeff Epstein had given $25,000 to my foundation in the U.S. when I started my YouTube career. As a Jewish millionaire, I think he didn’t expect my channel to turn the way it did.”
Gariépy has been accused of luring and attempting to impregnate an autistic teenager, according to court documents.
