Larry Summers, addressing his Harvard class, expressed regret over his past association with Jeffrey Epstein following the release of their email exchanges.
In a student-recorded video from Tuesday’s lecture, Summers spoke openly about the growing controversy surrounding his ties to Epstein.
The former US Treasury Secretary recently stepped down from his position on the OpenAI board, while Harvard has initiated an investigation into his connections with the disgraced financier.
At the start of his American economic policy class, the 70-year-old acknowledged the situation, stating, “You might have seen my regretful statement regarding my interactions with Mr. Epstein, which I am ashamed of.”
He added, “I mentioned I would be stepping back from public activities for a period, but I believe it’s crucial to meet my teaching responsibilities, so with your consent, I’ll proceed with today’s material.”
The caption of the TikTok read: ‘And in the emails released he was asking Epstein for advice on a young woman he was coercing…… just gross.’
Summers’ comments follow the release of emails by a House committee last week, shedding light on years of personal communication with Epstein, which included seeking advice on personal matters from the convicted sex offender, who was described as his confidant.
The disturbing emails include Summers seeking Epstein’s advice on courting a younger woman while he was married.
Larry Summers opened his Harvard class by addressing his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein
Summers also resigned from the OpenAI board this week, citing his decision to step away from public commitments
In email exchanges dated between 2013 and 2019, Summers and Epstein frequently shared their thoughts about current events and politics – while also delving into the married economics professor’s love life. (Pictured: Epstein smiling at Summers, pictured front right)
Summers exchanged emails with Epstein as late as July 5, 2019, just one day before Epstein was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges.
In email exchanges dated between 2013 and 2019, Summers and Epstein frequently shared their thoughts about current events and politics – while also delving into the married economics professor’s love life.
Harvard, where Summers is a professor and former president, has since launched an investigation into his relationship with Epstein.
The emails reveal that Summers complained to the now-disgraced financier about feeling like ‘the friend without benefits’ in his relationship with one woman who jilted him in 2019, and asked him for tips on how to reply to her texts.
This was long after Epstein’s guilty plea to sex crimes against children in 2008 – and Harvard had already stopped accepting donations from him the previous year in light of the allegations.
The emails have prompted Senator Elizabeth Warren to urge Harvard to cut ties with Summers, who is the Ivy League schools’ former president, and who also served as Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary and Barack Obama’s Director of the NEC.
Warren told CNN she believes Summers ‘cannot be trusted’ with young college students given his lengthy friendship with Epstein.
The House Oversight Committee released a vast tranche of Epstein emails last week, including several sent by one of Harvard’s most distinguished professors Larry Summers (pictured)
Harvard has launched an investigation into Summers
Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, exchanged emails with Summers up until the day before his arrest on sex-trafficking charges
Summers is married to Elisa New, who is a professor emerita of American Literature at Harvard. It’s unclear whether they have an open relationship or if he was cheating on his partner of now-20 years.
In one March 2019 email, Summers complained to Epstein that he was concerned that the attention he was giving one woman may not pay off in the form of sexual reward.
‘I dint (sic) want to be in a gift giving competition while being the friend without benefits,’ he wrote.
Summers analyzed his exchange with the woman in classic economic terms, by weighing up how he could maximize profit from what he gave.
Epstein praised the hopeless professor for his efforts, writing that his lack of ‘whining’ to the woman ‘showed strength’.
The economics professor then whined that the woman had abandoned plans with him for another man she was ‘really attracted’ to but was ‘unsuitable as a partner’.
He told Epstein he could not criticize her for this due to their power dynamic, and because he had canceled on her thanks to ‘family and work constraints’ in the past.
‘Should I just wait for her to call?’ he asked the sex offender, while suggesting that he could alternatively tell the woman she had ‘used up 80 percent of what she was owed’ by making him change his plans.
Epstein also referred to himself in some emails as Summers’ ‘wingman’, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Summers analyzed his exchange with the woman in classic economic terms, by weighing up how he could maximize profit from what he gave in the exchange with Epstein
In November 2018, Summers also forwarded an email from a woman to Epstein in order to ask his advice on what he should write back.
‘Think no response for a while probably appropriate,’ Summers wrote, according to CNN.
‘she’s already beginning to sound needy 🙂 nice,’ Epstein replied in part.
The previous year, in October 2017, Summers raged to Epstein that men could be banned from a social media site or a think tank because ‘they hit on a few women 10 years ago’.
Summers told The Harvard Crimson on Wednesday that he regretted his friendship with Epstein.
‘I have great regrets in my life. As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgment,’ he said.
This week, he also stepped down from his role at OpenAI.
OpenAI’s board said in its own statement: ‘Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision. We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Summers for comment.
