A video capturing a Harvard professor’s unexpected disclosure about Jeffrey Epstein before a lecture has gained traction on social media.
Larry Summers, a 70-year-old professor at Harvard University, surprised his students with an unusual admission earlier this week.
He acknowledged having previous interactions with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and expressed regret over those communications.
Newly surfaced emails between Epstein and his connections revealed that Summers communicated with Epstein over the years, with their exchanges ceasing just months prior to Epstein’s 2019 arrest on charges related to child sex offenses.
The video showing Summers addressing this issue has become widely shared online. Despite his apology, Summers indicated his intention to proceed with his teaching responsibilities.
He remarked: “Some of you will have seen my statement of regret, expressing my shame, with uh respect to what I did, communication with Mr. Epstein.
“I have said that I am going to step back from public activities for a while. But I think its important to fulfil my teaching obligations and so, with your permission, I’m, we’re going to go forward and talk about the material in the class.”
He made these comments before proceeding with his lecture titled: The G20: Multilateralism and its Future.
This revelation was initially shared by a student on TikTok, who captured the moment in a video captioned: “POV your Harvard prof opens class by recognizing he’s in the Epstein Files.”
However, despite his initial plan, a spokesperson later announced that Summers would no longer be teaching his economics class following his speech.
In a statement to the Harvard Crimson, a spokesperson for Summers stated: “Mr. Summers has decided it’s in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review.
“His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester.”
The publication also reported that Summers’ leave as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School is effective immediately.
In addition to his role as a professor, Summers held several other positions, including serving on the board of directors for OpenAI, an interactive learning company Skillsoft, contributing as a Bloomberg columnist, writing as a guest essayist for the New York Times, and acting as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress think tank.
The emails unveiled a discussion between Summers and Epstein about President Trump.
In 2018, Epstein wrote to Summers, seemingly monitoring Trump’s actions closely: “trump – borderline insane. dersh, a few feet further from the border but not by much,” apparently referencing American lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
Summers inquired: “Will trump crack into insanity?”
Epstein responded: “This is not a new phenomenon for him. in the past he was told not to come out of his apt. thats how he got through near personal bankruptcy. is strength is remarkable. he is pounded 24/7.
“I hope someone close to him gets indicted, but not sure, otherwise the pressure of the unknown will force him to do crazy things.”