New York-based investor Leon Black is being sued by a woman who alleges the former Museum of Modern Art chair raped her in 2002.
Cheri Pierson claims that 20 years ago, the infamous Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Black at his Upper East Side mansion. She says she was there to give Black a $300 massage, something she’d done for Epstein five times before.
Pierson says she would never consent to Epstein’s wish to include sex acts with the massage. So, he cut her loose. The suit says Pierson soon found herself “in desperate need for money,” so she reconnected with him. That’s when Epstein introduced her and Black.
The 300-pound Black is alleged to have arrived with his $300 and two of them went upstairs for the massage. That’s when he allegedly attacked her, which included forced oral sex and biting. Pierson says she only weighed 125 pounds and was helpless against the much bigger man, who was 51 at the time.
She met up with him a couple of times after, she admits. One time, he gave her $5,000 in cash. She further alleges she was not the only one of Epstein’s women Black was involved with. The suit says that as Epstein’s underage victims got older, he “simply passed some of these women on to Black, and likely other men.”
Per the New York Post:
Pierson’s accusations first surfaced in Russian model Guzel Ganieva’s own lawsuit in which Ganieva claims Black was sexually violent toward her for years. Pierson was not named in that suit, rather the incident was described as happening to a “Jane Doe.”
…
Ganieva – and a Jane Doe mentioned in her suit – have also brought their allegations to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has opened up an investigation into Black, according to court papers filed in Ganieva’s case in October.
For his part, Black has denied Ganieva’s allegation and through his lawyer, Susan Estrich, denies the Pierson allegation. Estrich says the law firm representing both women, Wigdor LLP, is part of a vendetta.
In a statement, Estrich said, “We intend to defeat these baseless claims, and to pursue all of our remedies to hold the Wigdor firm legally accountable for their abusive conduct and misuse of the courts.”
Who knows what to make of this case anymore?
On the one hand, there is a blatant and shameless cover-up in the media and law enforcement to protect all the elites who prowled around Epstein’s circle.
On the other, there’s this trial by media mixed with the promise of big payouts, which taints everything.
This is purely a coincidence, but it happens that last night I watched the Netflix documentary about Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s currently serving 20 years for procuring underage girls for Epstein. Everything that makes this case so frustrating is right there in the documentary. You have women who — at the time — were adults and not forced to do anything. Nevertheless, they are still grabbing their moment of fame by posing as victims of grooming and assault. Sorry, but you can’t groom an adult; trying to seduce you is not assault, and later regretting your adult choices is your own fault.
You have other women — who were adults at the time — claiming to be victims when it’s obvious the relationship was transactional.
Then there’s the alleged anonymous victim who talks of all the powerful politicians and celebrities she saw engage in illegal behavior, but she doesn’t name names.
Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of victim-victims. There’s no question Maxwell and Epstein were die-hard predators.
It’s just that the corporate media, the authorities, and those seeking to turn regret into victimhood and a jackpot have so bungled the whole thing, we’ll never have clarity — which is unquestionably the goal of the media and the authorities.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.