Details of Steve Tisch’s disturbing relationship with convicted sex offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were revealed on Thursday in an in-depth investigative piece by The Athletic.
In light of this latest report regarding what The Athletic headlined as a “transactional friendship” between the two, it is time for Tisch, the Giants, and the NFL to go beyond the flimsy statements that have been made to date.
It is time for Tisch to resign or be forcibly removed from his positions as executive vice president and chairman of the board for the Giants.
An original NFL franchise that considers itself a pillar of the league and a franchise that is an NFL crown jewel can no longer have Tisch’s name on its marquee.
Consider this damning statement from The Athletic:
Since the Department of Justice released more than 3 million emails last month, powerful individuals have had their dealings with Epstein scrutinized. But the Tisch-Epstein dynamic — revealed in dozens of unguarded emails exchanged between them in 2013 — stands out for how singularly focused it was on Epstein’s ability to connect Tisch with young women. There was scant talk about philanthropy or business opportunities present in many other Epstein relationships. Rather, Epstein, a convicted sex offender who was charged with sex trafficking before his death in 2019, merely plucked women from his orbit and delivered them to Tisch.
This alleged conduct from Tisch is, of course, reprehensible. It makes Tisch’s original statement when his name first surfaced in the Epstein files look disingenuous. That statement read:
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments. I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution in 2008. It seems unfathomable that in 2013, when Tisch and Epstein were corresponding, Tisch did not know exactly what Epstein was.
Here is more from The Athletic that would indicate Tisch knew who he was dealing with:
In April 2013, Epstein emailed an invitation to Tisch to join him for breakfast, and 22 minutes later, Tisch responded: “Absolutely.” Epstein’s schedule showed a meeting the next morning. …
At the time of that meeting, Epstein had been sued repeatedly by sex abuse victims, served 13 months of work-release custody, registered as a Level 3 sex offender — the highest risk to reoffend — and been dubbed a “billionaire pervert” and “child-sex creep” by a New York tabloid.
Tisch, meanwhile, was a well-known lothario. In 2008, TMZ published a video captioned “Tisch is a tush guy.” It showed him outside a Hollywood club with two young women. He hugged them and ran a hand over one of the women’s buttocks. A New York gossip column claimed Tisch was overheard “boasting that he’s been dating on both coasts.”
Tisch can’t possibly expect anyone to believe he didn’t know about Epstein.
Tisch, of course, is not the first rich, powerful man to use his position to allegedly try and keep company with young, beautiful women. He won’t be the last.
That doesn’t, in any way, excuse what the reporting in The Athletic reveals.
The Giants, and the NFL, can’t simply ignore this. It isn’t going away.
That doesn’t mean Tisch will be forced to sell his family’s 45% ownership stake in the Giants.
It is important to remember that John Mara and Steve Tisch are not sole owners of the franchise. The Mara family owns 45%, split among 11 siblings. The Tisch family 45% share is split among Steve Tisch, his brother Jonathan, and his sister, Laurie, both of whom are also on the team’s Board of Directors.
Unless evidence surfaces that Tisch’s siblings are also somehow tied to Epstein, which is not the case as of now, it seems unlikely that the family would have to sell its share.
Removing Steve Tisch from the masthead and from any decision-making, public role with the franchise, though, seems entirely appropriate. And necessary.
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