Episode 309: The Banker Who Cried Brown Boy

Summary

Blocked and Reported, Episode 309: "The Banker Who Cried Brown Boy"

Hosts: Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal
Date: May 25, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Katie and Jesse dive into the viral story of a former JP Morgan employee who alleged sexual and racial harassment at the hands of a female executive, a twist on typical #MeToo narratives. Before getting to the main event, they provide updates on some previously discussed legal cases and quirky small-town happenings, interwoven with their signature irreverence, banter, and skepticism about viral “dumpster fire” content on the Internet.

---

Episode Breakdown

---

1. Personal Banter and Birthday Shenanigans

• [00:10–04:20]
  • Jesse jokingly reads a fabricated(?) birthday email from Katie, leading to banter about diminishing social media birthday wishes.
  • Katie shares her experience shoveling pig manure for her 43rd birthday at an animal rescue (serious: to do something out of character with her partner Janet).
    • Memorable line: “[Some animals] are evidence... you can't even post a pic of it.” (Katie, [01:45])
  • Anecdote about walking on a beach possibly owned by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and a near-celebrity sighting.
  • Brief tangent about invasive Scotch broom and Lady Bird Johnson’s well-intentioned mistakes.

---

2. Updates on Notorious Legal and Social Media Cases

a. Tickle v. Giggle – The Women's Networking App Controversy

• [04:24–13:19]
  • Brief recap: “Giggle for Girls” was a women-only networking app, became the flashpoint for debate when it used AI for gender verification and eventually explicitly barred trans women.
    • “Grover required users to upload a selfie... used this AI service to analyze the selfie... obviously a problem for some women, like women with strong jaws... handsome women in general.” (Katie, [05:01])
  • A trans woman, Roxanne Tickle, was ejected after initially passing the AI. Filed complaint alleging discrimination.
  • The Australian Federal Court originally found indirect discrimination, awarding $10k; on appeal, the damages doubled and Grover was ordered to pay up to $100k in legal costs, found guilty of direct discrimination.
  • Katie’s big-picture takeaway: Efforts to “litigate what is a woman” got nowhere; the law already set the definition.
    • “The issue is the law, not the judge.” (Katie, [10:23])
  • Notable moment: The radicalization of users/entrepreneurs by online pile-ons — “You can literally bully people into the welcome arms of your political enemy. We can call it the law of Linehan.” (Katie, [07:08])

b. Port Townsend Oddities: Parade Mishaps and Epigenetics

• [13:19–26:41]
  • Katie corrects misconceptions about “epigenetic trauma,” prompting discussion on the overblown “body keeps the score” pop-sci narratives.
    • “What is not legitimate is the Tumblr/tiktok redefinition of epigenetics... [blame] why you don’t have the spoons to make your own lunch...” (Katie, [15:01])
  • Updates on Port Townsend traditions: the annual Rhododendron Festival, with small-town Americana on display.
  • The viral float scandal: a Mount Rushmore sculpture with Trump’s face replacing Lincoln, sparking outrage and a comical denial from the parade’s volunteer sculptor.
    • “I did not make Lincoln look like Trump. It is Lincoln... I put layers upon layers of styrofoam putty to make his beard. It’s definitely Trump.” (Anonymous volunteer, read by Jesse, [21:33])
  • Tension in the town over a drag brunch advertised by a local Mexican restaurant, which was canceled after backlash from both conservative and progressive sides.

---

3. Main Story: “The Banker Who Cried Brown Boy”

• [27:01–53:02]
  • Set-Up:
    • Former JP Morgan investment banker (initially anonymous, later identified as Trey Rana) sues the company, alleging intense sexual and racial harassment by his female boss, Lorna Hajdini.
    • Katie draws a parallel to the 2018 Avital Ronell/Nimrod Reitman case — a rare instance of a male accuser and female alleged harasser.
  • Allegations (Explicit and Absurd):
    • Highly graphic, lurid accusations: unwanted touching, sexual advances, coercion (“If you don’t f*** me soon, I’m going to ruin you... Never forget, I own you”), threats tied to professional advancement, and an escalating litany of racial and sexual insults (e.g. “My little Arab boy toy,” “Brownie,” “curry in a hurry”).
    • Alleged incidents include forced oral sex, non-consensual intercourse, being forced to digitally penetrate the boss, and humiliation over “erectile failure.”
      • Memorable, ridiculous lines (from lawsuit, read alternatingly by Jesse and Katie):
        • “Birthday BJ for the brown boy...” ([33:14])
        • “You smell so good. I really want to suck your long black cock right now.” ([34:08])
        • “Rub my clit with that beard of yours...” ([37:14])
    • John Doe claims he was racially harassed, given more work to “keep that damn monkey busy” after complaining, and allegedly threatened by coworkers and superiors.
  • Hosts’ Reaction:
    • Katie/Jesse are increasingly incredulous at the cartoonish, over-the-top (and poorly punctuated, oddly racist, almost comic book-style) details.
      • “It’s cartoonish... I’m skeptical.” (Jesse, [40:08])
      • “She lacked the usual precision you find in racists.” (Jesse, [34:57])
    • They point out logical inconsistencies (use of British slurs in a US context, e.g. “darkies,” [40:25]), and speculate on the unlikelihood of an anti-Asian office culture at a major NYC bank.
  • The Unraveling:
    • Investigation reveals gaping holes:
      • Rana isn’t married (despite many “wife” references).
      • He had left work in 2024, claiming his father died — in fact, his father was alive and knew nothing of the allegations.
      • An earlier chatbot post by Rana accuses a man at Morgan Stanley (his previous employer) of similar sexual assault — suggesting a pattern, not credible victimhood.
      • Screenshots from group chats suggest some light “brown boy” joking within multicultural banter, nothing approaching the lawsuit’s claims.
    • Notable Quote:
      • “If you have a little, a little bitch complain, you kick him out of the group chat.” (Katie, [47:40])
  • Aftermath:
    • Lorna heavily denies all allegations; JP Morgan calls them “a complete fabrication” but offers a $1M settlement (declined by Rana).
    • The internet erupts, with MRAs using the story to argue about male victimhood and most others making jokes or targeting anti-Indian bigotry.
    • Troublesome trend: The false claims are weaponized online to unleash a wave of anti-Indian racism, both in social media posts and with “death videos.”
      • “Anti-Indian bias is really pervasive on that app right now... Anti-Indian content was all over my ex [Twitter] feed, including Indian death videos.” (Katie, [51:11])
    • Rana is being sued by Lorna for defamation.
  • Hosts’ Takeaway:
    • A rare viral “internet main character” that (almost) everybody could agree was both laughable and damaging; noted as an example of how grift and bigotry intersect, with echoes of larger social dynamics.

---

Notable Quotes, Moments, and Timestamps

• On bullying people into opposing camps:

  • “You can literally bully people into the welcome arms of your political enemy. We can call it the law of Linehan.” (Katie, [07:08])

• On the weak science of “epigenetic trauma”:

  • “What is not legitimate is the Tumblr/tiktok redefinition of epigenetics...” (Katie, [15:01])

• On local politics and unintended symbolism:

  • “I did not make Lincoln look like Trump. It is Lincoln... I put layers upon layers of styrofoam putty to make his beard. It’s definitely Trump.” (Anonymous volunteer, read by Jesse, [21:33])

• On the JP Morgan lawsuit’s absurd details:

  • “She also licked and spit into her hands before rubbing plaintiff’s neck, head and legs. Plaintiff physically pushed away Ms. Hajj Genie's hands with her own, but she persisted while degrading him with a racial slur.” (Jesse reading from complaint, [32:37])
  • “Rub my clit with that beard of yours.” (Complaint, read by Jesse, [37:14])

• On skepticism of the claims:

  • “It’s cartoonish.” (Jesse, [40:05])

• On the group chat’s actual “evidence”:

  • “There was some race based ribbing in this group chat, which I actually think is good, like a little light racism. It’s way better than trust falls.” (Katie, [47:06])

• On the state of anti-Indian racism online:

  • “Anti-Indian bias is really pervasive on that app right now... I know I sound like somebody saying like, the knitting community has a racism problem, but X really does have a racism problem.” (Katie, [51:11])

• On Rana’s motivations:

  • “Not only is he American, but he did the most American thing of all, which is claim victimhood, when he actually victimized.” (Jesse, [52:37])

---

Important Timestamps & Segments

• [04:24] — Tickle v. Giggle update
• [13:19] — Epigenetics discourse and Port Townsend parade drama
• [27:01] — Introduction to JP Morgan lawsuit (“love story”)
• [30:23–38:15] — Reading of lawsuit's wildest harassment claims
• [44:48] — Evidence (or lack thereof), “brown boy” group chat details
• [47:55] — “Dead father” and chatbot/Morgan Stanley allegations
• [48:57] — The lawsuit becomes public laughingstock
• [51:11] — Surge of anti-Indian racism on X/Twitter

---

Overall Tone & Style

• Conversational, irreverent, and wry, mixing serious skepticism with accessibility and comedic asides. They approach even disturbing subjects with a mix of incredulity and dark humor, but are clearly attentive to the real-world consequences for those falsely accused (and for the amplification of racist narratives).

---

Summary for New Listeners

If you missed this episode, you’ll still come away with:

• A deep-dive into the anatomy of a viral, likely fraudulent, “MeToo-reversal” lawsuit;
• The way such stories fuel both toxic internet pile-ons and broader racist tropes—often through no fault of the original story’s main characters;
• The hosts’ signature knack for teasing out both the absurdity and the humanity in today’s online dumpster fires—without shying away from uncomfortable facts or big questions about “making the news.”
• An education on the dangers of taking outrageous legal allegations at face value, especially when amplified online.

Skip the lawsuits, but keep the skepticism—and maybe skip a parade float sculpting gig if you want to avoid local controversy.

Transcript

[A]

Katie, can I briefly read from an email you sent me a couple days ago?

[B]

I don't think this happened.

[A]

Dear Jesse, definitely the next time we record, can you please remind everyone it was my birthday? So they send me sweet, tasty birthday wishes and kisses, which is phrase weird, but that's what you said. But yeah, yeah. Happy birthday. You turned whatever you turned a couple days ago on the 18th, right?

[B]

I did. I turned 43. And as you know, because you actually did text me, which was quite nice. Thank you for that.

[A]

Well, just that was a complete accent that I found out. I. I don't really go on Facebook anymore, but I happened to log in that day and it said, Katie Herzli's birthday. Sorry.

[B]

You know, Facebook, it used to be this, you know, this whole. You get like hundreds of people wishing you a happy birthday on Facebook, and now it's just like a few people that I went to high school with and some of my parents. Friends. It's.

[A]

And I can't. I can't tell how much is Facebook versus my own diminishing social network. It's really.

[B]

It's probably both, but thank you. I had a nice birthday. I went and shoveled pig, which is, I think, what everybody should do for their 43rd birthday.

[A]

Is this like a sex thing or. Why. Why'd you shovel pig shit?

[B]

No, we did not. The pig. We shoveled it. It's just shoveled its. No. Janet is volunteering at a. Of course she is at a animal rescue. And so I joined her. I felt like I was like, I'm gonna do something completely out of character today, and I'm gonna spend my birthday doing acts of service. So the plan was to go and volunteer at this, this place where animals are kept. But the thing is, you can't. You're not allowed to take pictures of the animals and post them on social media because some of them are involved in court cases. Like, they've been.

[A]

They're witnesses.

[B]

They're evidence. Yeah, they're. They're. They're witnesses. They're evidence, basically. And so then it's like, what's the point? You know, I'm like here with a thousand pound pig and I can't even post the pic of it.

[A]

Are they in the W program?

[B]

You. Jesse, it's terrible.

[A]

That's okay. You can laugh.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But wait, so you. The whole point of like spending time with animals is to show to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Post it online. But you can't do that here.

[B]

I can't do it. That's why I'm talking about it here one more time.

[A]

That was witness paw texture. All right, we should. Happy birthday. I hope. I hope it's a good year for you. I don't know what else to say.

[B]

Something else. Something else happened.

[A]

What's that?

[B]

Okay, so I was. The plan was to spend the entire day doing acts of service, but after. So we were gonna do pig shovel in the morning and then spend the afternoon killing Scotch broom, which is this horrific plant that's taking over the west coast. But in the middle of it, we went and took a walk on this beach. And the walk ended up just being much longer than we expected. But there's these like rock formations called nodules. It's like. I don't know, it's just. It's like if you picture you're on a beach and then there's like a. Like a thousand butt plugs coming out of the rocks. That's kind of what. Like butt plugs of variant.

[A]

A thousand. Yeah. I can pict 500 a thousand, but

[B]

like a varying sizes. And the land above the beach, I heard is owned by Stephanie Myers of Twilight. Twilight. Yes.

[A]

Huh.

[B]

And she. So it's like High bank, so you can't see the house. But what I heard is that she owns this like compound that this beach is located on, so it's technically her property. And we were walking back and I think I saw her. I think I saw her walking on the beach.

[A]

You. Oh, wow.

[B]

I saw a woman who was like very like didn't make eye contact and had a. She had a rich looking dog, like some kind of spaniel. And then later we googled her and I think it was her.

[A]

Huh.

[B]

Exciting day.

[A]

You should talk to her next time.

[B]

Pig. Celebrity sighting didn't kill any Scotch broom. But honestly, what else could you ask for? A 43rd birthday Scot?

[A]

So Scotch broom.

[B]

Scotch broom. Yeah.

[A]

And what so I do I want to go down that. Is it going to be.

[B]

No, it's just. It's just like. It's this like noxious weed that is growing all over the west coast and fun fact, it was from what I hear from my scotch broom cleanup crew, it was introduced by Lady Bird Johnson. She was like trying to be beautify the country and sent this all over the place and now it's taking over.

[A]

You have a scotchbroom cleanup crew like friends?

[B]

Well, no, it's like volunteers who also do this.

[A]

This is. Okay, I'm learning too much about your life. We should just get back to the show. What are we talking about today?

[B]

Okay, Jesse, so our Main story today is it's actually a love story.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

It's a corporate love story.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

But before we get to the main event, I have a couple of updates. First one is about a legal case that we discussed in 2024, Tickle v. Giggle.

[A]

Do you remember that this was the Australian case about whether a. Was it a lesbian dating app? Whether it can keep no males close.

[B]

But no, it was not a lesbian dating app. It was like a women's networking app.

[A]

Women's networking app. Whether they could keep male people without off of it.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It says it's professional scissoring.

[B]

Yes. So Giggle was founded by an Australian entrepreneur named sal Grover in 2020, and the full name is Giggle for Girls. And yeah, I know it sounds like a fake lesbian porn app that is only used by men. Giggle is apparently the term for, like, a gaggle of women or a murder of crows, but I think she should have called it Murder for Girls. It probably would have done better. She didn't. She went with gaggle. And Grover says that she got the idea for the app after moving to LA and experiencing sexism in Hollywood. So, networking app for women. Nothing particularly inflammatory there. But then it became controversial for exactly the reason that you would expect. Yes, as you said, men were excluded from the app, and in order to prevent them from joining, Grover required users to upload a selfie. And then she used this AI service to analyze the selfie to determine the sex of the user. And obviously this could be a problem for some women, like women with strong jaws, women with prominent occipital bumps, handsome women in general. So the users could request a manual review if they were excluded. That's how it worked. The idea initially was not to keep out trans women, it was to keep out men like cis men. But in February 2020, Zoe Schiffer at the Verge wrote this piece accusing Grover of creating an anti trans dystopia, Literally. She called it something out of a dystopian novel. And because of the AI judging whether or not you're female or not, the app got review bombed. And instead of acquiescing Sal Grover, who had not been gender critical before this, she was pretty unaware of gender politics and the minefield she was stepping into. After this happened, she was like, you, trans women are men. And she explicitly banned them from the app. And I talked to Sal about this last year. She sort of disputes, like she. There's a little bit of revisionist history there, like she says. She said when I talked to her that the app was always supposed to be just for women. But the FAQ from the site was pretty explicit. So Jesse, read this. This quote from the FAQ.

[A]

Trans girls are 100 welcome on giggle giggles Gender verification onboarding process is a gatekeeper to stop men from getting onto the platform, not girls or those who identify as girls. If you're at all concerned with the possibility of being misgendered, you're welcome to contact Giggle HQ for manual onboarding. Giggle Bose fully supports and recognizes gender identity and will never discriminate.

[B]

Yeah. Not the words of a hardened turf.

[A]

No.

[B]

So what I think happened is that after Sal got dragged online, it was this radicalizing experience and she was welcomed by terps. Right. This is a common phenomenon. And when I think that any sort of activists should be more considerate of, you can literally bully people into the welcome arms of your political enemy. We can call it the law of Linehan, you know, and I think there's some resistance to acknowledging that this actually happens on the part of some activist, but it happens.

[A]

There's massive resistance. And they find it laughable because their view is that if you come to have the wrong views, it's because there was like a. There's an evil demon in your soul that was always there. It's like various. I mean, exaggerated a little bit, but, like, we've seen this a million times. We've seen a lot of people. I'm not. I'm not calling this person crazy, but significantly crazier people go crazy in the wake of, like, cancellations.

[B]

Exactly. Yes. So anyway, a trans woman named Roxanne Tickle. Yes. Roxanne Tickle joined the app. Normal lady name Roxy Tickle pass through the AI screening. Seven months later, Grover was clearing things up, like cleaning up the app. She was kicking mouse off of the app, including not just trans women, but CIS men. And she kicked Tickle off, Tickled and filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission. That was in January 2022. The commission tried to broker a settlement that would have required Grover to readmit Tickle and all trans women going forward. She also would have had to go undergo re education on sex and gender, which I assume is just writing trans women or women on a board a thousand times, like Bart Simpson.

[A]

That's actually a little bit disturbing.

[B]

Totally. And she was also. She would also have to have to more aggressively moderate the app's content. Grover refused, and then Tickle got a $50,000 grant from a university in Australia and got pro bono legal help and then took Grover to federal court seeking $200,000 in damages. One thing that Tickle claim was that Grover's persistent misgendering. That's a quote. Has had caused constant anxiety and occasional suicide thoughts. Jesse, does it make you suicidal when I call you a little girl?

[A]

No, I'm really into it, actually. But that's a. So a university gave her a grant to sue.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This just. I mean, this obviously gets into the category of, like. I mean, this whole debate centers on the border between, like, politeness and coercion. And here you seem to have the state telling someone you're not allowed to discriminate on the basis of sex.

[B]

That's exactly what happened. And at the time that we spoke about this in 2024, the Federal Court had just ruled, and the case was a bit of a circus. So Grover side wanted to litigate the question of what is a woman? So she had expert witnesses like Helen Joyce, Kathleen Stock, Colin Wright. But the judge was like, that's not

[A]

a kindergartner from 1988.

[B]

Anyone over the age of 60? The judge was like, that's not the question at hand here. You know, according to Australian law, Tickle is a legal woman. That's not up for debate. And the judge was pretty critical of Grover, so.

[A]

And I should say that. That I'm not knowing the details, but that. That is often, like cases like this, if the law says that a woman is this, then that debating what a woman is in that particular context is not. Is not relevant.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Like, that's a matter. Like, if you're mad about the Australian law, try to change it.

[B]

It's the issue is the law, not the judge. Although I will say so. The judge, like Grover, refused to use Tickle's preferred pronouns, which makes sense. Her whole point is that Tickle is a man, and men aren't allowed on the app. She's making a political point here, and it's one that I think is valid, even if I generally use people's preferred pronouns. But the judge chastised her. And there was one moment in particular when the judge dinged Grover for some of her behavior. So, Jesse, I put an image here in our show notes.

[A]

Just describe this T. It's like a candle. It says Team Giggle. It's like a. I guess a caricature.

[B]

The label.

[A]

Label says team giggle. Gigglecrowdfund.com it's like a caricature drawing of this, I guess, this tickled person. And it's. It's like a comic style, almost kind of looks like.

[B]

Like pig pen from a little bit.

[A]

And the speech bubble says So I realized I was a woman because I hate the smell of balls. Balls. Hate them. I had to get away from smelly balls. I don't get it. But okay, I guess they're making fun of her.

[B]

It's a. It's something that. It's. I don't know if it's an exact quote, but this is something Tickle apparently said was, like, being in locker rooms, like, made this person realize, oh, I'm actually a woman.

[A]

Gotcha.

[B]

I. So this was. This image was shown in court and Sal Grover laughed and the judge found that offensive. And. And Sal explained it later to me like it was funny. Like. Like I'm in federal court and someone shows like it's funny, which I. Yeah, yeah, it is funny. Suffice it to say, the judge ruled against Grover and found that she had engaged in indirect discrimination because Tickle quote, did not look sufficiently female. And he ordered grover to pay $10,000 plus court costs.

[A]

Okay, so what, you said you had an update on this?

[B]

Yeah. So after that ruling, both sides appealed. So Grover was trying to get the ruling overturned and Tickle cross appeal. Tickle wanted more money, which seems a little greedy to me. I mean, call me a man for 10k, I'll take it. I don't even have a penis. No problem.

[A]

Okay, and who won?

[B]

Tickle. And in fact, this ruling was even worse for Grover than the first one. So a three judge panel dismissed her appeal and partially granted Tickles cross appeal. The panel decided that Grover was guilty of direct discrimination, not just indirect. They also doubled the damages owed to tickle from 10,000 to 20,000. And this is in part because what they called Grover's aggravating conduct. So that includes misgendering. And Grover was also ordered to pay up to $100,000 in legal costs.

[A]

Oh, that's a big, big increase.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

What does this mean? Bigger picture.

[B]

So Grover's goal here was not just to be permitted to discriminate on her app. By the way, the app shut down in 2022. It was also to establish the concept of womanhood as something that pertains only to females in the law. And that door slams shut. But it's not quite over. Like Grover has said from the beginning that she expected this to go to the High Court of Australia regardless of who won. So another appeal is possible, but there's no guarantee that it will be heard. So this might be over, but she's not giving up.

[A]

She's probably hoping, maybe against hope for an outcome similar to the High Court ruling. In the uk, where they did define women.

[B]

Yes. Yes. Okay, next up, an update from Port Townsend, Washington. The subject of our last episode. Jesse, could you sum up Port Townsend for me for anyone who missed that episode?

[A]

It's a place you took me.

[B]

That is true.

[A]

And, and it's on the water. It's like very pretty. Like nice old Victorian houses. Deer.

[B]

More like politically. How would you politically sum it up?

[A]

Oh, very progressive. Very progressive, yes.

[B]

So I am going to give you an update on Port Townsend, but before we get to that, I got a couple of emails from people demanding that I correct what something I said offhand in that episode. So this was after we played a clip about a black woman who experienced epigenetic trauma because she was asked to walk in a fashion show with a man in a Confederate uniform. And I said epigenetics is fake. Jesse, did you understand what I meant by that?

[A]

Yeah, I. I interpret it as the discourse surrounding epigenetics, which is the idea of like over the generations, like trauma or other effects changing, you know, your genes basically, or genes between generations.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My extremely limited understanding of the subject is like, there's a. There's a fair amount of science there. So I didn't think you were saying, like, there's no such thing as epigenetics, if that's how you phrased it. I would have just thought you were saying like, it's exaggerated in many cases. And like, for example, saying if this woman said that caused me epigenetic trauma, that's sort of a silly thing for an individual to say because, like, how do you know? What, what does that mean?

[B]

Right. Yeah, I thought it was obvious what I was saying, but I. Allow me to spell it out, but

[A]

we have some very literal minded listeners, don't we?

[B]

We do. So epigenetics in the molecular sense is basically how genes are expressed. And I won't pretend to understand the science. I do know this is a legitimate field of study. What is not legitimate is the Tumblr tick tock redefinition of epigenetics, which is this idea that the trauma that your ancestors experienced generations ago explains why you don't have the spoons to make your own lunch and need to doordash every day.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I'm not saying that transgenerational trauma isn't real. If your parents were in the Holocaust, I'm pretty sure they're going to pass down some shit to you.

[A]

Yeah, I think, I think like a lot of these scientific claims are overstated and it's also really Hard to study what is people passing down behaviors versus what is genes versus. Yeah, it's just tricky.

[B]

We should maybe do a whole show on this at some point. But. Yeah, as far as I'm aware, there's some decent evidence that fetuses in utero during something like famine can show DNA effects later in life. The most famous study on this was a population that starved during the Dutch famine during World War II. What's much weaker is the evidence that those effects pass down to subsequent generations. And what is established is very different from the sort of pop science the body keeps. The score turned up to 11 that this particular woman was talking about. I thought what I was saying was obvious in that context, but apparently not.

[A]

Yeah. Well, thank you for the update.

[B]

More of a. That was like more of a non correction correction. You were wrong. I wasn't wrong. You were wrong.

[A]

We would like to correct the people who you emailed us saying we were wrong for being wrong.

[B]

But I do have a more important update. So after our show went out for a second, I thought, you know, like, maybe it's not a good idea for me to talk about Port Townsend. Like, don't where you pod. That's a very established rule. Right.

[A]

Everyone says that.

[B]

Right. Like, I just. I don't want a repeat of the sticker situation, you know?

[A]

Do people. People know what you mean? This is when people in Seattle put up stickers saying you're a turf.

[B]

Not just a turf, turf. Nazi sympathizer. Worst one, Jordan Peterson, apologist.

[A]

Right. Worst one. You're a Nazi sympathizer. Technically, yes.

[B]

But Jordan Peterson, apologist, Come on, that's different.

[A]

Yeah, that's way worse.

[B]

Unfortunately, I will not be able to keep my mouth shut about Port Townsend because last weekend after we put out the show, something else happened.

[A]

What happened, Katie?

[B]

So on Saturday, Port Townsend held the annual roadie festival, which does not celebrate due to move amps around, but rhododendrons. I personally find this odd. Like, there are rhododendrons here, but they're not everywhere. If you want to go to a true rhododendron haven, go to western North Carolina or probably like, fucking anywhere on the East Coast. There are four of them. Are there a lot of rhododendrons in Boston or in Massachusetts?

[A]

Well, I don't live in Massachusetts.

[B]

You did.

[A]

And I forget what rhododendrons look like, so I'm not sure.

[B]

You know, they're a very tree.

[A]

You know what they have a ton of. And seemingly more every Year. The neighborhood I grew up in absolutely infest with rabbits just everywhere. And. And really, it's like they're multiplying. I don't get it. But. Yeah, I don't know about rhododendrons.

[B]

Like bunnies.

[A]

That's a weird thing. None of them are having sex. I. I can tell. They just produce new ones somehow. Good word.

[B]

Okay, regardless, in Port Townsend, they celebrate the roadie, and they've been doing so every May for almost a hundred years.

[A]

That sounds exhausting.

[B]

Yes. So during roadie fest, there's a pet parade, a kids parade, a fun run, a car show. There's the crowning of the roadie festival queen. In the Royal Court, there's a bed race. This is where people push four poster beds down the main drag.

[A]

What does that have to do with rhododendrons?

[B]

I don't. It's just like a civic celebration.

[A]

Are there just like a lot of parents with young kids in this area?

[B]

No, there's a lot of retirees.

[A]

Okay, well, that's another population that just like, needs excuses to get outside. So maybe that's why there's Rhododendron festival.

[B]

Yeah, there's a parade through downtown. It's a big deal here. It's just. It's. It's sweet. It's like one of these relics from the past, you know, like a genuine small town civic fair.

[A]

Hate it.

[B]

Yeah, I didn't go, but I was in town four days before the parade, and there were already chair. There were chairs lined up and down the street where, like, people saving their spot for the parade.

[A]

For the rhododendron parade.

[B]

People take this seriously.

[A]

Okay, so why are you talking about this?

[B]

Okay, so the parade was on Saturday. Saturday afternoon, this photo starts circulating on Facebook. Please subscribe.

[A]

It's a float. It's a float with a bell. I guess that's a Liberty Bell.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Oh, God. Trump is in Mount Rushmore. Wait, who did they replace with Trump?

[B]

Lincoln. Okay, so.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

So this is a. So someone made a Mount Rushmore sculpture here. There's a better close up. Scroll down a little bit in the notes there.

[A]

Oh, God. Yeah, it looks like it's freshly hewn from clay. Do you hue from clay or do you. Oh, I have that same yellow storage bin. Okay, that's so funny.

[B]

The low storage bin. Okay, so first of all, no, I

[A]

got it from Staples, Idiot. Anyway, continue.

[B]

So this sculpture is not good at all. Like, the faces all look like that

[A]

woman who ruined Imagine the Mona Lisa.

[B]

It looks like the woman who ruined the last. That. Or that painting of Jesus.

[A]

Oh, not the Mona Lisa. Yeah, we're talking about the same thing. I'm an idiot.

[B]

Was that the Last Supper?

[A]

I forget what it was. Whatever it is one of the better Internet memes. Like back when things were much more innocent.

[B]

These figures all look like they have Marfan syndrome, which, oddly, Lincoln might have actually had. And he's not actually in the sculpture. The only one who is remotely recognizable is Trump, where Lincoln should be. And this float looks like he's crying.

[A]

What's that thing on his cheek? Or like he's got a scar there,

[B]

like he's had a Mohs surgery. So this. This. This sculpture, if you can call it that, was on the float for the official roadie parade organization. Not the local Republicans. They were there too. They had their own stupid float. But this is the. This is supposed to be non partisan.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And as you can imagine, people were pissed. So, Jesse, I want you to read this Facebook post.

[A]

Is this going to be hysterically annoying?

[B]

No.

[A]

To the East Jefferson county community. As a former Rhodey Prince. Oh, this is Morgan Chaffee.

[B]

You know her?

[A]

I wonder if she's related to New England Republican stalwart Lincoln Chaffee. As a former roadie princess, I was deeply disappointed to see overt political messaging in a Trump display included on a parade float during this year's Rhododendron Festival. For more than 85 years, the festival has been a cherished East Jefferson county tradition built around community celebration, inclusion. Seeing a partisan political display inserted into an event that is meant to welcome everyone felt disrespectful to the history of the festival and to the generations of royalty who have represented it with dignity and pride. Okay, that's not historical. That's just, like, keep politics out of the roadie parade.

[B]

Yes, totally. I also like that the. That the. The girls from the. From the roadie parade are considered royalty. So this starts to circulate, as do other posts, and people start to tag the artists behind the sculpture.

[A]

Oh, and so what did she say?

[B]

She says that it's Lincoln.

[A]

That's not Lincoln. That's so Trump.

[B]

Read this. Don't say her name. Let's keep her anonymous.

[A]

Okay, everyone. I am the person who made Mount Rushmore. I did not make Lincoln look like Trump. It is Lincoln. I put layers upon layers of styrofoam putty to make his beard. It's definitely Trump.

[B]

There's no beard.

[A]

She's just doing, like, what Trump would do if he was caught in this sort of situation.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

This is totally Trump.

[B]

Wait, keep reading.

[A]

I don't know what you're seeing, but it is not Trump. I would never, ever purposely make anything political for the roadie float. My granddaughter was also a princess and queen one year. I was very proud. It sounds like she's having a stroke as she types this. I was very proud to be a part of the flow.

[B]

Also, her. Her punctuation is very Trumpy.

[A]

It's very strange. No, Trump is better punctuation than this woman.

[B]

He does more caps.

[A]

It's like there's a space before and after the period. Yeah, I've. Okay, so she's just denying it.

[B]

Totally denying it. And then she says at the end, I volunteer my time to make whatever is needed to make it beautiful. It's not beautiful. So now, after all the nasty comments, I will probably never help out again. I didn't see other volunteers step up. You people are hurtful and nasty. You just ruined a beautiful, fun thing I least love to do. And yes, please call the paper. Local news. I have a lot more to say. Have a nice day.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Okay, so no one believes her because people start to look at the woman's own Facebook page, and it's apparently covered in Trump. By the time I saw it, she'd locked down her page, so I can't personally verify that, but I could see her likes, and she likes Glenn Beck, Melania Trump, Great American patriots, and the love of Jesus Christ. So I suspect she is, in fact, a Trump fan.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Now, did she intentionally replace the man who freed the slaves with Donald J. Trump? I don't know. Perhaps it was subliminal Trump, the man

[A]

who has enslaved us all.

[B]

So an editor for a local news outlet called the Jeffco Beacon, she saw this thing in person and she said this on Facebook. Will you read this?

[A]

Okay, here's what I'll say. Having seen the sculpture and spoken with one of the people who made it, it's weirdly in person. Very much the navy blue v gold dress of yesterday's Internet. In person, it looks less like Trump, but I cannot say it looks anti anything like Lincoln either. In the end, they decided to let people put a model top hat and draw a beard on. Centrist compromise. I was surprised that the organizers needed to be convinced that doing modifications was going to be for the best. I was equally surprised that at least one person involved with the float claimed that, I guess if it was altered, no one was going to volunteer to make or float or drive the float ever again. So it should be left alone. It was wild to witness some of the conversations around it. And I'm saying this as someone whose job is to record and relay wild conversations.

[B]

Okay. And this is not. This editor is not someone who is sympathetic to Trump, by the way. So when she. She's like anti racist, anti fascist type. So when she says that this was less Trumpian person, I believe her. But it sure that shit looks like Trump in the photo. And honestly, why shouldn't Trump replace Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore? I mean, that loser got shot. Trump just keeps dodging bullets. He's like, neo, put that man in the rock.

[A]

I mean, he got shot. He got shot too. But he survived.

[B]

Yeah, he survived.

[A]

Unlike that loser, I prefer my attempted assassinated presidents alive.

[B]

Do you?

[A]

I was trying to do that. What was the thing Trump said about.

[B]

But do you really?

[A]

I do, I do.

[B]

Oh, the John McCain.

[A]

Yeah. I prefer not getting caught. Yeah.

[B]

So the only other thing I wanted to report about Port Townsend before we move on to the main event is that I saw in this local, local news digital news outlet, the Jeffco Beacon. I saw today that there's a new Mexican restaurant that there's a Mexican restaurant that was in town that's moving to a new location, and they wanted to have a drag brunch. And so they took out an ad on Facebook to advertise this. And they got so much shit, like people calling them and threatening them and calling them groomers that they are, that they canceled it because they don't want to pay for security. And then when they announced that they canceled it, they got so much shit from the people who were pissed that they canceled it. So they're double canceled, both from the anti trans and from the pro trans side.

[A]

It's not even. I mean, it shouldn't even be considered a trans thing. Who the fuck? Oh, just don't bring your kids to the drag brunch if you don't like the drag brunch.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Anyway, should we do housekeeping before we get to the main story?

[B]

Yeah, let's do housekeeping.

[A]

This is a podcast. We're called BlockedReported. You can find [e-mail] if you go there, you can become a premium subscriber where, for a very affordable pittance, you can get extra content. You can become a member of our community. You can post to the open threads, you can comment on episodes. There's an ant crawling on the tissue box near me. There's ants in my room. I'm becoming.

[B]

Is it Carpenter or sugar?

[A]

How do you tell if it's carpenter?

[B]

My God. The carpenter ones are the big ones. Good fucking luck.

[A]

No, it's not big. Who's a guy? Ian Miles Chong. I'm becoming. Or both. I always forget which one was covered in ads. And they're both Asian, so it's like I'm being racist. As I was saying, also, read and review us on Apple podcasts. That's another good way to support us. And wish Katie a happy birthday.

[B]

Don't.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do birthdays. Look there. Everybody has one. I don't think that birthday should even be celebrated. You should. Like, Mother's Day shouldn't exist and Mother's Day should be your birthday. You know what I'm saying?

[A]

Not really. Let's continue.

[B]

Okay. I just opened up Facebook and the first thing I saw is that speaking of Port Townsen, they are going to. They're going to do rainbow crosswalks, like 10 years too late. And they're doing them especially ugly. They're doing, like, the trans flag, like within the rainbow crosswalk.

[A]

I'm so sorry you're going through this.

[B]

Hideous. Okay, Jesse, the rest of the show, we're talking about a love story. A corporate romance, to be exact. The biggest, buzziest love story since that ill timed intra office kiss at a Coldplay concert last summer. Which let that one be a lesson to us all. Never, ever, ever publicly listen to Coldplay.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

So when the story I'm going to tell you about first dropped, it was truly shocking. The story is that a former investment banker at JP Morgan was suing the company after being subjected to really hideous racial and sexual harassment.

[A]

Allegedly.

[B]

Yes, but that's not the shocking part. The shocking part was that the plaintiff was a man and his alleged abuser was a woman. Jesse, does this remind you of any other stories?

[A]

I mean, it reminds me of our dynamic a little bit. I don't remember any other.

[B]

Do you remember the story of Avital Ronell and Nimrod Reitman?

[A]

Didn't we talk about this?

[B]

I thought that we might have, but it actually took place like, well before the podcast came out, so I don't think we did.

[A]

Oh, this was the subject of a really long investigative piece. I'm just talking. I don't know if that's true. It was. It was a very. Oh, this was the grad student. Okay, you. You tell. I don't remember.

[B]

So this was in 2018. Hi to me too. The story was wild. So basically, a star feminist professor at NYU was suspended without pay for a year after a Title 9 investigation found that she sexually harassed her former graduate student. His name was Nimrod Reitman, who names their child Nimrod?

[A]

Honestly, that's anti Semitic.

[B]

It's just you're like begging your child to be gay. Which. Which he was. It really. Is that a Jew name?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Anyway, the claim was that Avital Renell harassed, assaulted and stalked Reitman over the course of three years. According to the lawsuit, he filed a suit against her in New York University. According to the suit, she created, quote, created a false romantic relationship between herself and Reitman by threat of, among other things, not allowing him to advance his PhD, asserted complete domination and control over his life. He said that she would kiss him and fondle him without consent. She made him sleep in her bed. She wrote him these bizarre emails calling him pet names. And the strangest part of all of this is that they were both gay. That was basically her defense. Technical term, the muff diver defense.

[A]

I'm too gay to have done it.

[B]

Exactly. And this story probably would not have come to light, but after she was suspended, a number of her fellow feminist scholars, including Judith Butler, wrote a letter to NYU defending Ronell. And when the story was broken by the New York Times, it went very viral. Because the gender dynamics were just unexpected. Yeah, let's put it that way.

[A]

Was a man harassing a woman? Like, let's not even pay any. Who cares?

[B]

I mean, there was that whole movement thing, but.

[A]

Okay, so tell me about the victim and the alleged harasser.

[B]

So in the early reporting on this case at places like the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, the plaintiff was kept anonymous. He's a John Doe. But the woman who allegedly harassed him was not anonymous. Her name was lorna Hajdini, a 37 year old executive director in the leveraged finance division at J.P. morgan. And I'm just going to call her Lorna because I will butcher her last name. This is not a sign of disrespect.

[A]

I think you're in your head about this pronunciation thing.

[B]

Hajjdini. Do you think that's right?

[A]

Well, I'm worried because it does. I think it's. There's only one real possible pronunciation in English. Hajjdini Hajdini. Oh, I guess it could be Hajidini Haydini. Hi, Danny. I guess call her Lorna.

[B]

She looks like Swedish.

[A]

I'm gonna call her Lorna Hajjdini. But she looks Swedish.

[B]

Huh. Maybe she's married.

[A]

I'm gonna Google her. It's also, yeah, Lorna Hajjdini.

[B]

Regardless, she's worked for JP Morgan since around 2010, 2011. And by all accounts, there was no prior record of misconduct.

[A]

Okay, and what's she accused of doing? Other than having a weird last name?

[B]

Let's start with harassment. So, in the legal complaint, John Doe said that in May 2024, shortly after he started working at JP Morgan, Lorna dropped a pen near his desk, bent down, rubbed his leg, squeezed his calf, and said, quote, oh, did you play basketball in college? I love basketball players. They get me so wet that that

[A]

could be construed as sexual.

[B]

Jesse, you play church ball. Does that ever happen to you?

[A]

Yeah, people are always just coming up and. And grabbing my calf. It's also. So. Okay. I mean, that's. That would be such a crazy thing to make up, but it would also be a crazy thing to say. I don't know. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. Whatness is a theme of this alleged harassment.

[A]

So it's a moist complaint.

[B]

Yeah. So quoting from. Actually, Jesse wanted to read this.

[A]

Oh, God. Ms. Hajjini's sexual advances and threats soon became more explicit. On May 14, 2024, while departing work at the same time as plaintiff, Ms. Hajjdini invited plaintiff to join her for a drink in a bar nearby. Plaintiff declined the invitation, citing the rain as an excuse.

[B]

He was wet.

[A]

There is wet stuff. Ms. Houdini then asked plaintiff to join her in her Uber home, stating, come with me. I don't like the rain, but I do like getting wet. She's like. It's like. There's like a. It's like a teenage boy trying out pick up lines for the first time.

[B]

Don't laugh about this, Jesse. This is serious shit. All right, keep going.

[A]

When plaintiff again declined, Ms. Hujdini became threatening. You know, I'm still your boss, and what I say goes here at jpmc. Trust me, I own you. The. It's. It's so just explicit and menacing. It sounds made up.

[B]

A few days later, according to this lawsuit, Lorna said, if you don't me soon, I'm going to ruin you. Never forget, I own you. Which is exactly what I say whenever you're late to record this podcast. John Doe also claimed that some of this harassment was racial in nature. So, Jesse, please read this passage from the complaint. This is about a party that Lorna hosted at a private club where she's a member.

[A]

Throughout the evening, Ms. Hajjdini repeatedly groped plaintiff's leg and groin under the table. She also licked and spit into her hands before. Why are you laughing? This is really serious. We didn't go through me too. Just for you to laugh at. She also licked and spit into her hands.

[B]

Didn't just spit into her hands. She licked her hand.

[A]

More noises. She also licked and spit into her hands before rubbing. It is funny how we laugh about it because it's the victim's a guy. I'm gonna become a men's rights activist. She also licked and spit into her hands before rubbing plaintiff's neck, head and legs. Plaintiff physically pushed away Ms. Hajj Genie's hands with her own, but she persisted while degrading him with a racial slur. You want this executive director life? You want to get paid like me? You're gonna need to earn it, my little Arab boy toy. Is that the slur Arab?

[B]

No, there's more slurs.

[A]

Oh, Jesus.

[B]

Don't worry, there's more.

[A]

Please read on. May 21, 2024, for example, Ms. Houdini proposition plaintiff for oral sex while at the office. Birthday BJ for the brown boy. My little brown boy. Don't forget, I own you. Don't fight it. Plaintiff ignored Ms. Hodgkini's offer and continued with his work. Approximately one or two days later, Ms. Hudgenie leaned over plaintiff's desk while he was working, said, you smell so good. I really want to suck your long black cock right now. She then referenced Vis Raghavan and several other non white senior leaders at JP Morgan and said, this could be you one day. As long as you start pleasing me. It continues in a similar vein. On or about June 10, 2024, Ms. Hajjini texted the Lev Finn group, a leverage finance group, a picture of Citigroup CEO with an unidentified man of Asian descent who is not white. A Short time later, Ms. Hajjini, referencing the text, whispered to plaintiff, this will be us one day. Just fall in line, Brownie.

[B]

That's capitalized.

[A]

Know your role. Around the same time, Brownie, I guess referencing his skin. Around the same time, Ms. Hejdini texted plaintiff a picture of shirtless men she found attractive. She later told them, the picture of those guys has me all wet and horny. I bet I can't say that word.

[B]

You can. You have to say that.

[A]

I bet your C slur wife. It's an anti Asian slur. Can't suck dick like me.

[B]

She was also big into nicknames.

[A]

There more for me to read or is that it?

[B]

No, there's more. In addition to Brownie and little Brown Boy, she called him her little Asian appetizer. My curry in a hurry.

[A]

Okay. That's pretty good. My curry in a hurry.

[B]

Yes. Little did I already say little Arab boy toy?

[A]

I think I already read that multiple times.

[B]

She also apparently called him gook, which is very confusing. Like, is he East Asian or South Asian? She seems confused.

[A]

She lacked the usual precision you find in racists. The specificity.

[B]

But it gets worse.

[A]

It gets worse than what I just read.

[B]

Keep reading.

[A]

Hey. In summer 2024, Ms. Hujdini invited herself into Witness One's apartment. You can't do that. Which was vacant that evening. Knowing plaintiff was headed there. While at the apartment, plaintiff unequivocally rejected Ms. Hajjdini's sexual advances, stating, no, I'm not interested. Ms. Hajjdini made clear that refusal would negatively affect plaintiff's professional advancement at JP Morgan. Telling him, do you want to get promoted at year end or not? Do you want a future at jp? That simple. I don't know why you're fighting this. Without waiting for plaintiff to respond, Ms. Houdini removed her shirt, fondled her breasts, insulted plaintiff's wife. I bet your little Asian fish head wife doesn't have these cannons.

[B]

Cannons.

[A]

This is also horribly written, even though it's supposedly her words. And then forcibly removed plaintiff's pants and performed oral sex on them.

[B]

She just yanked them down forcibly.

[A]

It's like the first scene in Ace Ventura or something.

[B]

Keep going.

[A]

In a state of overwhelming distress, plaintiff continued to protest and began to cry.

[B]

Jordan Peterson.

[A]

Moment, miss. Ms. Houdini responded with hostility, raising her voice to school plaintiff for complaining. Stop fucking crying. You think anyone would ever believe you? You're a fucking douchebag who thinks he's hot shit, but you can't even get your dick hard for me. What the fuck is this? I'm having less fun reading this as we go.

[B]

One more paragraph.

[A]

Plaintiff pleaded with Ms. Houdini, stating, Please don't make me do this. I'm working my ass off and I'm exhausted. This isn't right. This is so wrong. Eventually giving sexual intercourse with plaintiff, who was unable to maintain erection. I feel bad for the attorney who had to prepare this brief. Ms. Hodini then demanded that he perform oral sex on her. The old switcheroo. They don't say the old switcheroo. That was me editorializing. Plaintiff again begged Ms. Hajdini, Please don't make me do this. But Ms. Hedini ignored his pleas, ordering him to lick. Lick me, my fine lick. Sorry, I'm losing the will to live. Lick me by five, little Muslim looking man. Rub my clit with that Beard of yours. Afraid that there's a missing period there? Afraid that Ms. Hijini would act on her threats to retaliate against him. Plaintiff, embarrassed and humiliated, complied with her demands.

[B]

You know, it's occurring to me right now that we probably should have done a content warning at the beginning of this segment.

[A]

Wait, so that took place in witness one's apartment? Who's witness one?

[B]

I will get to that. Just one more section. One more, Jesse. This one's good.

[A]

Later in July 2024, Ms. Hodini intercepted plaintiff when he was departing a bar following a gathering of their leveraged finance group colleagues. She again insisted they go to witness one's apartment, where she assaulted him again, despite his clear discomfort and express resistance. While there, Ms. Hedgedini ordered plaintiff to suck on her toes and pushed him to the ground, sat on his face, removed his pants without his consent, and told the plaintiff that she wanted to have anal intercourse with him. When Ms. Plaintiff was. When plaintiff was unable to get an erection, Ms. Hajdini grew exasperated and ordered plaintiff to digitally penetrate her until she orgasms. Afterwards, Miss HD continued her assault on Plato.

[B]

Oh, Jesus.

[A]

Telling him to ejaculate on her face and calling him a pussy when he expressed discomfort.

[B]

You're ending every. Every. Every sentence of the question.

[A]

I just can't believe what I'm reading. It's like NPR voice. She then attempted to perform oral sex on plaintiff, who pleaded with. This is getting brutal with Ms. Houdini to stop stating, I'm very uncomfortable. Please, Lorna. Please, I'm begging you. But miss Hygienie just laughed at him, further underscoring her contempt for plaintiff's autonomy and her desire to demean him. Ms. Houdini then commented, at least your cock doesn't taste like curry. This is just lazy racism. That's what's most offensive about it. Come on. You know I'm better than your little wife at sucking, but I hope you' this much of a. With her. I know she doesn't eat pork, but does she eat. Does this woman have Tourette's?

[B]

I know she doesn't eat pork, but does she?

[A]

Jesus Christ.

[B]

Okay, so we will.

[A]

You could always. You could have always just pulled out a few highlights.

[B]

Katie, we will stop the readings here, but if you would ever like. Anyone listening to this would ever like to do some role play with a partner. Link to the complaint in the show notes. Other allegations included that Lorna drugged the John Doe with a cocktail of Viagra and Rohypnot.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

That. That. That she forced him into a Threesome. Who is this? Aha.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

And that she accessed his. His bank accounts to spy on him.

[A]

Okay, and did he? Did he. I don't want to victim blame, but he. Did he complain?

[B]

Yes. So according to the lawsuit, he did. But let's just say JP Morgan could use a few thousand sessions with Robin d'. Angelo. Not only did JP Morgan not protect him, according to the suit, John Doe claims to have repeatedly reported her up the chain, but that leadership gave him more and more assignments to quote, keep that damn monkey busy so he keeps quiet. That was a quote from a VP allegedly.

[A]

Keep that damn monkey busy so he keeps. This is all. It's just like.

[B]

It's cartoonish.

[A]

A caricature of it's cartoonish. Yeah. So I'm skeptical.

[B]

Yeah. And there seems to be some big issues with leadership. So like one BP allegedly said this on Juneteenth 2024. These darkies are allowed their own holiday now. I thought they already had MLK day. How much more do they want? Equal race. I will say darkies is capitalized there. So I'm not sure if it's racist or anti racist.

[A]

That sounds made up.

[B]

So the suit.

[A]

These were like the companies most desperate to show how woke they were in recent years.

[B]

Yes, so the suit claims. Although this is post vibe shift when

[A]

everyone just went back to being as racist as they had been. All right, that's over.

[B]

Nevermind slurs. Fire the HR department. So the suit claims that when John Doe finally plucked up the courage to report this behavior, he began despite being a little bitch. Yeah, he began receiving anonymous threatening phone calls. Calls attempting to scare him into silence. He claims that one caller said, just wait till you're back in New York, brown boy. You better stay away. Snitch. Another caller allegedly threatened to report him and his family to ice. And he was told, according to him, you're a colored foreigner and look like a bloody terrorist and people don't want you or your kiter. And that one is especially odd because Americans do not say bloody. Maybe it was at the London office. And he also says that he was placed on leave after he complained. So finally he sues.

[A]

How did Lorna, the company respond to the lawsuit?

[B]

So she denied all of it, said it didn't happen. Said she'd never been to locations where the events supposedly took place. JP Morgan offered John Doe a million dollar payout, but they maintained that the claims were a quote, complete fabrication. So they're just trying to get Pam to go away. But John Doe rejected the offer, reportedly holding out for over 20 million. And his lawyer rejected the implication that his client was lying. So here's a quote in an email that his lawyer Daniel Kaiser sent to Reuters. I will note that in my 30 plus year career as an employment litigator, I have never had an employer defendant make such a substantial offer if they truly believe the allegations to complete fabrication.

[A]

I, I mean that might be true but there's a lot, a million dollars is pocket change to this company and just the hassle and discovery and I mean there's that. I don't find that compelling on its own.

[B]

Right. And when there's a lawsuit like this, like if there's a million dollar settlement or whatever, like that doesn't necessarily that the company pays out a million dollars. These companies have insurance, so it's the insurer who's going to be paying it out. I mean, and this isn't to say that it's like they get off without cost. They pay, but it just. Yeah, they make a calculus.

[A]

It's also. I don't, I don't know how this is going to end up. But from the point of view if John Doe was lying, he's playing like this very specific game of chicken. Because if you work for a place like JP Morgan, a million dollars, a lot of money, but it's not, it's not a crazy amount of money and versus 20 million. And you will, therefore word will spread, you will be unemployable after this. So this is like this is your one shot at a play day. If he's making it up, which I don't know yet.

[B]

It's also funny to read the very dry reporting places like Reuters because they leave out all of the detail, all the good stuff. Yeah, like they say in his lawsuit, Doe claimed Huni allegedly used her seniority to coerce him into non consensual sex acts. He also alleged the leveraged finance team directed racial slurs at him. That's how they describe his boss. Force feeding him Viagra and making him suck her toes while she called him proud boy. Thankfully, more colorful reporting followed at places like New York Post and the Daily Mail.

[A]

Well, I'm guessing those tabloids leaned into the. What's the word?

[B]

I'm looking for the details.

[A]

Well, no, I'm saying like they probably did to the spectacle element of it rather than showing compassion to the alleged victim.

[B]

Yeah. So the Daily Mail published an article titled Glamorous JP Morgan Exec accused of Turning Married Male Broker into Office into Her Office Sex Slave Claims of Viagra Spiking and litany of obscene forced acts that made him cry. And their online response was mixed. So naturally, there's quite a bit of anger from men's rights activists. So, Jesse read this tweet.

[A]

It's appalling that sexual abuse. Abuse becomes a matter of sneering comments and distasteful jokes when the victim is a guy and the perpetrator a woman in position of power.

[B]

But the majority of comments were shit posts like this.

[A]

Anna Slats. God forbid a woman have hobbies. Yikes. Yikes. Chief.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so what was he? I mean, if a level of harassment this severe and insane and persistent, you would think he could provide some good evidence, right?

[B]

Yeah. So you asked who witness one was earlier. There were two witnesses. Witness one was supposedly woken up in the middle of the night by Lorna smoking a cigarette and demanding it's a threesome. This was a family friend. Witness two was apparently the owner of the apartment where witness one was staying. Their names were redacted from the lawsuit. But from the start, as soon as the story dropped, there was a lot of skepticism online. Like, Lorna Hushdini is an attractive young woman who does not fit the mold of the classic workplace abuse.

[A]

You're right. Thank you. Katie, 37, is young. We need to remember that she does

[B]

not look like Harvey Wilson Weinstein. Plus, it turned out JP Morgan had actually done an internal investigation into these claims. And not only was there no evidence to support them, according to this investigation, John Doe ghosted the investigators when they tried to get his statements.

[A]

Oh, that's not good.

[B]

And more to the point, it just seems really unlikely. Right? Like, not only the sex stuff, but an office full of hardcore racists against Asians. I mean, if it was any other racial.

[A]

Like the New York quant world. Yeah, right.

[B]

This is the map world. Who would alienate an Asian employee? It makes no sense.

[A]

Yeah, and I'm using quant loosely, but, like, banking overlaps with, like, there are a lot of agents in this world. Have we figured out who John Doe is?

[B]

Yes. So, very quickly after this, the initial stories went viral. The New York Post unmasked John Doe. His name is Trey rana. He's a 35 year old Virginia native. He's the son of Nepalese immigrants. And the report reported that essentially everyone at JP Morgan thought that the story was he was a middling employee who had cycled through a number of finance firms before landing at J.P. morgan. He was basically just skating by without doing anything to distinguish himself. Lorna was a top performer.

[A]

Well, until he's now distinguished himself.

[B]

Yeah, and the fact that she was great at her job and he was not, that doesn't in itself make it impossible. But he didn't report to her, so she would not have had power over his promotions and bonuses as he claimed, regardless of what his giant brown cock tasted like.

[A]

Like, okay, so this seems like pretty made up.

[B]

Yes, it appears to be mostly bs. So for one, like all the stuff about his wife. He doesn't have a wife. Rana isn't married. There were some kernels of truth though, like not of the sexual harassment. But the Wall Street Journal did more digging on Rana himself and they got screenshots of group traps he was in with colleagues, including Lorna. And quoting from the Wall Street Journal here. On occasion, co workers would joke about Ron is Nepalese background in the chats or refer to Indian men as brown boys, according to the screenshots shots. Rana liked one message where a colleague asked if a brown boy could join a gathering. One screenshot shows the brown boy in reference was the colleague's boyfriend, who whom Rana knew. A person familiar with the matter said she.

[A]

So she called her own boyfriend a brown boy and said, can a brown boy come?

[B]

Yeah. So there was some race based ribbing in this group chat, which I actually think is good, like a little light racism.

[A]

You think racism is good?

[B]

I think a little light racism is a great way to bond. It's way better than trust falls. And I'm like, I'm kidding, but I'm not kidding here.

[A]

This I, I, I like. Any time I've been in any group of like, like friends with like differences of identity people, there are jokes made. Now we don't know how people in the chat who were themselves brown boys felt about this. It could be offensive. You know, you got to make sure it's fully consensual and everyone's in on the joke and doesn't feel shitty about the joke. But this is nothing in the vicinity of what he accused.

[B]

If you have a little, a little bitch complain, you kick him out of the group chat.

[A]

Right. If someone's also, if someone's a little bitch, like they need to find out somehow.

[B]

Yes. So the Wall Street Journal also also reported that Rana, he stopped coming to the office in 2024. He told his bosses that his dad died, but his father had not in fact died.

[A]

Huh.

[B]

And when the New York Post reached out to his actual father, his dad claimed to know nothing about any of this. And then an even weirder twist emerged. So the New York Post reported that in July 2025, a user named Chararu Rana used a legal advice chat bot for help with a legal case. His exchange with the chatbot read, I was raped sexually. That's spelled wrong. Assaulted, harassed and forced to do drugs by my former boss at Morgan Stanley. Yes, Morgan Stanley, not JP Morgan. The user also referred to the boss as he, not she. Now, Rana had worked at Morgan Stanley before he moved to JP Morgan. So the only explanation for this is that it happened to him twice.

[A]

How do they find out that? He asked a legal chapter, but then it's public.

[B]

So the platform was ask a lawyer on call dot com. So Jesse, click that link, okay? If you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see a bunch of legal categories like animal law, business law, civil law, etc. If you click on employment law and then scroll down to the link that says see all questions, you can see people's actual questions, including.

[A]

Oh, so they posted publicly.

[B]

Yes, yes, including names.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yes. So very quickly, Rana became a laughingstock across the Internet. And you know, normally I feel sorry for people who become the character of the day, but in this case, he did appear to fabricate incredibly serious and fucked up allegations against a woman and then try to shake down his former boss for $20 million. Yeah, so it's hard to feel bad for the guy. Although I do think one underexplored possibility here is that the man is having a genuine mental health crisis, in which case he needs a doctor, not a lawyer. And I think the lawyer who represented him in this frivolous claim him, should be ashamed of himself. And this was a rare story that sort of united the Internet because this guy was clearly such a. But unfortunately, there was a darker element. So when the story first dropped, before John Doe was unmasked, he was simply described as being of Asian descent. As I mentioned, his parents are from Nepal. He himself was born and raised in Virginia. But in the darker corners of the Internet, this very quickly became an opportunity to on Indy. So, Jesse, here's an example of this. This post was from BB Maga. Mom has a million views on X Grifter.

[A]

Piece of shit. Deport this clown back to India immediately. No more scamming American companies with fake victim stories. Lying scumbags like this are why real victims get ignored. Lock his ass up or ship him out. Enough. But this guy's American. I mean, these people are just. These are the absolute dumbest bottom feeders on the Internet.

[B]

Yes, and Joe Rogan got this one wrong too. So he had comedian Shane Gillis on his. His show and Gillis asked. An Indian guy made the claims and Robin and Rogan said, yep, she was hot. And Gillis said, it reads like a horny Indian guy wrote it. No, Shane, it reads like a psychotic Nepalese American guy wrote it. There's a difference.

[A]

A horny. He was horny though.

[B]

Yes, but the general consensus across racism, Twitter, what that was that it was laughable that a hot white woman would ever have sex with an Indian man, let alone turn him into her sex slave. And so Ran his story seemed to really fit this narrative of the two most pervasive stereotypes about Indian men right now. That they're sex pests and that they're scammers. Jesse, have you noticed how hot anti Indian racism is these days?

[A]

Yeah, like in the Magaverse, it's like a whole thing and some of it's tied into like work visas. But yeah, people are really going for it on the anti Indian front.

[B]

Yeah, it really is a thing. So the same week that this JP Morgan story dropped, which again did not involve of Indian people, anti Indian content was all over my ex feed, including Indian death videos, which are exactly what they sound like. Videos of Indian people being hit by trains, being electrocuted, being drowning is really dark shit.

[A]

Jesus Christ. I mean, that's fucking like whatever you think about where Elon draws a line just. I mean, that's sickening.

[B]

Anyway, yeah, there are entire accounts dedicated to posting these clips. And look, this trend existed well before Rana made these false allegations. Anti Indian bias is really pervasive on that app right now. And I. I know I sound like somebody saying like, the knitting community has a racism problem, but X really does have a racism problem. But there's also this real irony here that this guy makes up racist claims and inspires a wave of hardcore racism directed really at a different ethnic group. Yeah, yeah. So I'm very sorry to turn what should be a feel good story about a bogus lawsuit into something depressing, but I do wonder if the JP Morgan story would have gotten as much traction if the main character didn't look Indian. And it might have. Like, it's a great story regardless, but this gave people an ex. Another reason to on an entire racial group, even though the guy involved was just a very dumb American who is now, by the way, being sued for defamation by Lorna Hushdini.

[A]

Not only is he American, but he did the most American thing of all, which is claim victimhood, when he actually victimized totally. Well, that was. What was that? That was. For a while it was like funny. But in a way that made me feel extremely bad and dirty. Then it got dark. Now I just kind of want Indian food.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It is dinner time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, thank you for that, Katie. I suppose.

[B]

You're welcome. I suppose.

[A]

This has been blocked and reported. As always. We are produced with help from Jessica the 80s baby. Thank you for listening.

[B]

Bye.

[A]

Bye.