4chan’s creator says ‘Epstein had nothing to do’ with creating infamous far-right board /pol/
Chris ‘moot’ Poole tells The Verge he regrets having ever encountered Jeffrey Epstein.
Chris ‘moot’ Poole tells The Verge he regrets having ever encountered Jeffrey Epstein.
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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.
The close timing of Jeffrey Epstein coming into contact with 4chan founder Chris ‘moot’ Poole and the launch of the “politically incorrect” message board /pol/ that became a breeding ground for QAnon and the white supremacist alt-right movement was coincidental, says Poole. In a statement given to The Verge, Pool writes, “The decision to add the board was made weeks beforehand, and the board was added almost 24 hours prior to a first, chance encounter at a social event.”
Speculation about the timing arose after emails found in the millions of documents released by the Department of Justice showed Epstein and venture capitalist Boris Nikolic discussing a meeting between Epstein and moot in 2011, as well as failed attempts to meet later.
But according to moot himself, Epstein had nothing to do with what happened on the site:
Epstein had nothing to do with the reintroduction of a politics board to 4chan, nor anything else related to the site. The decision to add the board was made weeks beforehand, and the board was added almost 24 hours prior to a first, chance encounter at a social event. His assistant reached out to me afterward, and I met with him one time for an unmemorable lunch meeting. This happened at a time when I was meeting hundreds of people a month while speaking and networking at tech events.
I did not meet him again nor maintain contact. I regret having ever encountered him at all, and have deep sympathy for all of his victims.
As we reported on Thursday, while their contact may have been brief, Epstein’s influence continued to intersect with 4chan and the culture it helped produce, through his ongoing connection to former Trump advisor and Breitbart chief Steve Bannon’s efforts to elect Trump and platform far-right figures.
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