Bill Ackman says he never met Jeffrey Epstein and wife Neri Oxman for multiple dinners with pedophile after donating $150,000 to her MIT lab: Billionaire shoots down claim she dated Brad Pitt
Billionaire Bill Ackman said he never had “anything to do with” Jeffrey Epstein and that his wife turned down “several dinners” with the pedophile after his donation to MIT.
Taking to X on Sunday, Ackman responded to allegations against his wife, academic Neri Oxman, involving Epstein, Brad Pitt and plagiarism.
Today News Africa correspondent Simon Ateba had tweeted that Oxman “is accused of multiple counts of plagiarism, receiving gifts from Jeffrey Epstein and questionable relationships with other people, including an actor.”
Ackman responded that Ateba had gotten it “completely wrong” and said so Although Oxman's lab had received a $150,000 donation from Epstein, she had met him only once in 2015 and had subsequently declined Epstein's invitations to “multiple dinners.”
He added that she “never had a romantic relationship” with Brad Pitt and asked people to “give her a chance to respond to the plagiarism allegations.”
Neri Oxman is an acclaimed designer and academically famous, but came under fire in 2019 after it emerged she had presented her work to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
Epstein donated $150,000 to MIT for Oxman's lab, along with many other donations to the university
Reports of Oxman's encounter with Epstein surfaced in 2019 as a scandal emerged surrounding MIT accepting donations from the pedophile.
At the time, she apologized for meeting him, telling the Boston Globe, “I regret receiving money from Epstein, and deeply apologize to my students for their unintentional involvement in this mess.”
Now, Ackman clarified in the latest Tweet that he himself had “never met, spoken to, corresponded with, or had any form of interaction with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Ackman further explained Oxman's interaction with Epstein, saying, “Neri's lab received $150,000 from Epstein. She met him once at MIT (and never again) at the request of the head of the MediaLab.
“He was introduced to her as a donor, no different from the hundreds of other donors over the years to whom she was asked to present her work at the request of the administration.
'Neri was often asked to present her spectacular work to potential and current donors. The meeting with Epstein included Joey Ito, head of the MediaLab and her boss, and another of the most respected members of MIT's senior faculty.”
Ito resigned from MIT after the donation scandal came to light.
Ackman added, “She presented for 45 minutes. Epstein asked questions which she answered, and then she went back to work. She later discovered that he had committed $150,000.
“Neri was one of MIT's best and brightest faculty members who presented to Epstein. I don't know if any of them got funding from him.
Oxman was linked to Brad Pitt following his divorce from Angelina Jolie in 2018, but has denied there was ever anything romantic between the two
Neri Oxman (left) with her husband Bill Ackman last year
“She never did due diligence on her donors because that was the job of MIT and the development office, not that of a busy researcher working toward tenure.
“She was invited to several dinners by Epstein and she never accepted an invitation and never saw or spoke to him again.
At one point, she was asked to give him one of the 'orbs,' small resin sculptures that her group made and that MIT used as gifts for donors to the university. Neri's group has created many gifts for MIT MediaLab donors because her work is unique and beautiful.
“She dutifully did what she was told.”
He also clarified that “the actor” Ateba was referring to was Brad Pitt. In 2018, Oxman was linked to Pitt following his split from Angelina Jolie, with reports claiming the pair had been 'spending more time together'.
But Ackman said there was never anything romantic between them, saying, “(Pitt) called and expressed interest in her work.
'He came to visit Neri's laboratory once or twice, and she met him once in San Francisco in connection with an idea for a cultural architecture project he was working on but which was not successful.
'There was nothing questionable about her relationship with the actor. It was completely professional. They never had a romantic relationship.”
Ackman turned to X, formerly Twitter, to refute the allegations about his wife
Ackman also responded to claims of plagiarism in Oxman's dissertation and other work from Business Insider last week.
Business Insider accused Oxman of plagiarism in parts of her 330-page MIT dissertation. Oxman subsequently apologized for omitting quotation marks despite including the correct quotations.
Ackman has linked the allegations against his wife to his ongoing criticism of MIT over the university's handling of anti-Semitism on campus.
He previously responded to the claims about
He later clarified, “We do not yet know whether this initiative against my wife @NeriOxman and family is being led by the @MIT board, its chairman Mark Gorenberg and/or the administration or certain members of the faculty.”
An MIT spokesperson said, “Our leaders remain focused on ensuring that the vital work of the people of MIT continues, work that is essential to the nation's security, prosperity and quality of life.”
DailyMail.com contacted Ackman and Oxman for comment.