A (0:01)

Boss, what's the most dreaded question that you can get when you tell people you host a podcast called the Lapsed Fan? Ugh. It's. What is it about? And why is that, do you think? Because to like pro wrestling is to lose the respect of others. Now, what if we told you there's a podcast that explains exactly why that is and why it's kind of deserved? For over a decade, we've taken fact finding missions through the thicket of half truths that is wrestling history. We watch old matches, call out carnies, laugh at our own jokes, and have so much fun doing it that some people actually can't handle it. Think wrestling is an escape from real life? Think again. Same power games, same office politics, same people lying to your face. Just with entrance music and absolutely no company health insurance under any circumstances. All I offer is opportunity, not benefits. As do we, Vince. The Lapsed Fan Podcast. Come for the wrestling history. Stay for the uncomfortable truth about why it used to be better and why you still care.

B (1:00)

What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Yo. Let's stop pretending. Let's stop pretending that Prince Andrew's ass was some clueless royal who got caught in the orbit of a predator. Let's stop pretending that this was a misunderstanding, a smear campaign, or an unfortunate coincidence. It wasn't. This wasn't the story of a naive aristocrat tricked by a master manipulator. This was the story of a grown man, a military veteran, a senior member of the British royal family, who looked at a convicted sex offender and said, that's still my friend. A man who walked into Jeffrey Epstein's townhouse after the conviction, stayed for four nights and took a stroll through Central park with him like nothing had ever happened. What kind of person does that? Certainly not one looking to distance himself from a predator. And the worst part? He didn't run when the truth came out. He stayed. He lingered. He doubled down. And then when the consequences finally caught up, he denied everything, smeared the victim, and wrote a check to make the problem disappear. This is not a story about scandal. This is a story about impunity. About how power doesn't just shield the guilty, it makes them feel invincible. It pats them on the back and assures them that. That the rules don't apply. It rewrites reality to fit the narrative. It hands them a press team and a legal fund and tells them just to wait it out. Because for people like Prince Andrew, shame is never terminal. It's just something to be managed what we're talking about here is a man born into a system that confuses royalty with virtue and assumes that blue blood can commit vile acts. A man who was credibly accused of raping a trafficked teenage girl, who was photographed with her, who fought tooth and nail in court to avoid testifying, and who still still managed to slip through the cracks without ever facing a single minute of cross examination under oath. Never any justice, just more aristocracy in its most corrupt, cowardly form. Prince Andrew's legacy isn't defined by his military service or for his royal duties. It's defined by cowardice, silence and shame. It's defined by his friendship with Epstein, by the Newsnight interview that revealed his stunning lack of empathy, by the laughable excuse that he couldn't sweat, by the absurd claim that he spent the night of the alleged rape at Pizza Express in Woking. It's defined by the fact that he didn't even pretend to care about Epstein's victims or only about how the story affected him. This wasn't a man fighting to clear his name. That was a man desperate to keep the doors locked and the truth buried. He didn't face the music. He paid off the band. And as we all know, the monarchy didn't cut him loose because of conscience. They did it because they had no choice. Because the stink of Epstein was radioactive. Because the photos, the allegations, the lawsuits, and it all became too much to launder through the royal PR machine. So they did what they always do when one of their own becomes a liability. They quietly shoved them off stage, stripped them of a few titles, and hoped the cameras would turn elsewhere. But this wasn't just another royal embarrassment. This was a grotesque abuse of power hiding in plain sight. And the institution didn't act to protect the public or honor the victims. They acted to protect themselves. And in this episode, we're gonna strip away the illusion. It's about talking about what the royals pray that you forget. It's about a man who leveraged royal blood to dodge consequence that would bury anyone else. It's about a palace that enabled him, a media that cushioned him, and a justice system that never even knocked on his door. Because in the world that Prince Andrew was born into, there's no accountability. All only exile, image management, and the occasional photo op on horseback. It's also about the woman that center of the case, Virginia Roberts, who didn't have a crown, a castle, or a PR team. All she had was her story and the kind of courage you can't fake. While Andrew's Bitch ass stayed silent and hidden behind his mother's legacy. Roberts stood up, gave sworn statements, survived smear campaigns, and and forced one of the most powerful institutions on earth to flinch. And her fight wasn't just personal, it was symbolic. A teenage trafficking victim took on a prince and made the world listen. That's what this is about. So if you're looking for fairy tales, this isn't the show. If you're looking for redemption arcs or sympathetic portrayals of disgraced elites, keep walking. We're not here to polish the crown. We're here to crack that bitch open. So this is the truth about Prince Andrew. And we're not pulling punches because someone has to say it. Because too many still won't. And because the only thing more obscene than what Prince Andrew did is how many people helped him get away with it. So let's talk about it. Prince Andrew's name will forever be stained by his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. A connection that has left a trail of scandal, disgrace and public disgust. Long after Epstein was known as a sex offender, the Duke of York maintained ties with him, inviting him to royal properties, attending events in his company, and most infamously, staying at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse. In 2010, after Epstein had served time for soliciting a minor. It wasn't just a one time lapse in judgment. It was a consistent years long association with a man who. Who was trafficking and abusing underage girls. Prince Andrew didn't merely brush up against Epstein's world. He walked into it willingly and comfortably. Despite being a senior member of the British Royal family, Andrew acted like a man above accountability. When photos of him walking in Central park with Epstein emerged after Epstein's conviction, he dismissed them as a mere mistake. He said he was ending the friendship face to face after out of honor. Right, because the only noble way to end a friendship with a pedophile is to crash at his place for four nights and take a stroll with them while the paparazzi circle like sharks. That excuse insulted everyone's intelligence and made it clear Andrew had no real remorse, only damage control. Then there's the infamous photograph. Prince Andrew with his arm wrapped around the waist of the then 17 year old Virginia Roberts, a victim of Epstein's trafficking network. Andrew's claim that he didn't remember ever meeting her was as transparent as it was pathetic. Robert's accusations were not vague. She said Epstein trafficked her to Andrew multiple times, including a night in London where she was instructed by Glenn Maxwell to do for Andrew what she does for Epstein. And yet The Prince's defense amounted to a laughable denial, coupled with a medical alibi about not being able to sweat that 2019 BBC interview. Newsnight was supposed to be his redemption arc. Instead, it was a master class in delusion and arrogance. Andrew claimed that he had no regrets about his friendship with Epstein, repeatedly failed to show empathy for Epstein's victims, and gave nonsensical, robotic answers that only deepened the suspicion. His bizarre assertion that he was at a Pizza Express in Woking on the night he was accused of raping Roberts was ridiculed across the world. The royal family, always adept at sweeping scandal under the rug, was left scrambling. Queen Elizabeth reportedly summoned Andrew and stripped him of royal duties. The palace couldn't protect him anymore. But make no mistake about it, his fall wasn't because of a moral reckoning. It was because he became a liability. For years, the monarchy turned a blind eye to his behavior. They didn't just tolerate his ties to Epstein, they enabled his jet setting lifestyle. Andrew enjoyed luxury, privilege and impunity, while victims like Roberts were discarded, disbelieved and defamed. He wasn't forced out until the pressure from media survivors and public outrage reached an unbearable crescendo. In the end, it wasn't decency that dethroned him, it was optics. And Andrew's legal strategy was equally cowardly. He fought Robert's civil lawsuit tooth and nail until it looked like he'd be forced to testify under oath. Then suddenly he folded and paid her a multi million dollar settlement, reportedly funded in part by his mother. He claimed the payment was not an admission of guilt, but. But let's not pretend billionaires pay out millions for allegations they think are baseless. The settlement may have avoided a courtroom, but it didn't cleanse his name. It only solidified the impression that Andrew was desperate to avoid the truth coming out in sworn testimony. The fact that the Royal family allowed Andrew to retain his titles for as long as they did is a reflection of how power shields itself. Even after his disgrace, even after the settlement, even after the Newsnight disaster, there were discussions of rehabilitating his public image. Some insiders even floated the idea of bringing him back into the royal fold. It was only due to his sustained public backlash that any efforts to reintegrate him were shelved. The monarchy was willing to forgive his proximity to child sex trafficking, and until it threatened their own reputation. Prince Andrew was not Epstein's victim. He was a willing participant in the orbit of a convicted sex offender. His actions were not those of an innocent man. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were those of a privileged predator who thought the rules didn't apply. He cozied up to Epstein and Maxwell even as the world recoiled. He partied with them, vacationed with them, and allegedly raped a trafficked minor under their direction. That's not just damning. That shit's unforgivable. And to this day, Andrew has not cooperated fully with u. S. Authorities. The doj made public overtures, requesting his assistance in their Epstein investigation. And Andrew's response? Silence. Defiance. His lawyers danced around the issue with diplomatic immunity and royal protocol. But the truth was obvious. Andrew wanted nothing to do with testifying about epstein. He wanted the headlines to fade, the victims to be quiet, and the public to move on. But survivors don't forget. And neither should the rest of us. Prince Andrew is a living symbol of everything broken about elite accountability. He bought his way out of a sex abuse lawsuit. He leveraged royalty to escape public justice. He hid behind palace walls while survivors stood alone. His name should not be rehabilitated. His reputation should not be salvaged. The truth is simple. If he weren't born into privilege, he would have been booked, interrogated and charged. But in the world of aristocracy and pedophiles, justice is reserved for the powerless. And what does it say for the world we live in that a man like prince Andrew tried to, drenched in scandal and oozing entitlement, can still count on the benefit of the doubt? While his accuser, Virginia Roberts, was forced to prove her trauma under a microscope? That even after Virginia produced a photograph showing Andrew with his arm around her waist, Even after she detailed the abuse in multiple sworn statements, and even after a massive global investigation revealed Epstein's criminal enterprise, there were still people out there willing to excuse Andrew's role. And as a misunderstood royal, the reality is that power doesn't just shield predators, it rewrites the narrative entirely. Alright, folks, we're gonna wrap up part one right here. And in the next episode, we're gonna pick up with part two. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box. What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein chronicles. In this episode, we're picking up where we left off. Talking about the Joe exotic of the Windsor family, Prince Andrew's strategy has always been the same. Stall, deny, deflect, and wait for the public to forget. It's a method that's worked well for the powerful for centuries. Don't engage, don't confess. Let your lawyers do the talking let the press grow tired. The monarchy, after all, knows how to weather a scandal. But this one was different. The stench of Epstein is radioactive and no amount of royal decorum could neutralize it. And yet, through sheer arrogance and insulation, Andrew continues to cling to the belief that his story isn't over, that he'll one day be welcomed back like the prodigal son. What makes this even more perverse is how the Royal family, for all its pearl clutching, continues to operate behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. They refuse to release internal documents. They refuse to answer questions. They hide behind tradition like it's a get out of jail free card. There has been no independent investigation into how Epstein and Maxwell were allowed such intimate access to the monarchy. No transparency about security protocols. No explanation as to why Andrew was allowed to fly on Epstein's jet, stay at his homes, or attend private dinners with traffic girls in tow. The silence is an accidental. It's institutional. And let's not pretend that this was a one off. Epstein and Maxwell weren't just passing acquaintances to the Royals. Ghislaine Maxwell was photographed at royal events, invited to intimate celebrations and treated as a friend of the family. At one point, she was so embedded in their inner circle that people assumed she was Andrew's girlfriend. This wasn't some brief, regrettable overlap. It was a long standing, deliberate relationship. And the Royal family let it fester. Either they didn't care who Maxwell and Epstein really were, or worse, they knew and looked the other way. Andrew's cowardice runs deep. When the civil suit with Virginia reached its peak, he did what any privileged man cornered by consequences does. He cave quietly with a checkbook. He never stood in court. He never answered under oath, never offered a real apology. And in doing so, he robbed the public and survivors of the one thing they deserve most. The truth. That settlement wasn't a resolution. It was a cover. A transaction to avoid transparency. And it worked. He skated past criminal liability. And to this day, no one has made him answer for what he did. His defenders? Few they may be, like to pretend the lack of criminal charge is proof of innocence. But anyone with eyes can see that this is injustice. It's aristocracy in action. If Andrew were a commoner, if he were a schoolteacher or a plumber or a bus driver, he'd have been arrested, charged and likely imprisoned years ago. But he's a Windsor. And in the eyes of the system, that makes him untouchable. It's not innocence that keeps him free. It's his title. And that Title continues to rot in the shadow of the scandal. Every time Andrew appears in public, the monarchy is reminded of the rot it refuses to cut out. The Queen may have tried to preserve the institution by sidelining him, but she never really severed ties. And now, under King Charles, whispers of reconciliation persist. That's the true sickness here. Not just at Andrew's actions, but the monarchy's refusal to amputate him. The institution is so obsessed with survival that. That it will drag the stand of Epstein behind it just to preserve the illusion of unity. For the survivors of abuse, that illusion is salt in the wound. It tells them that no matter how loud they scream, how much evidence they provide, or how many people they convince, this system will always protect its own. That men like Andrew can rape, deny, pay, and then ride horses in the countryside while the women they abused spend their lives clawing back dignity. It's not just unjust, it's a parody of justice. And look, the media, too, bears guilt in this. Too many publications danced around the truth. Too many headlines framed Andrew's scandal as a royal embarrassment rather than a sex trafficking case. They sanitized it with euphemisms. They focused on his titles, his exile, his humiliation, while burying the horror of what Roberts endured. They made it about reputation instead of rape, optics instead of victims. The British press, in particular, played defense for the Crown instead of doing their job. And in doing so, they failed the public. And what remains is a legacy of silence, shame and evasion. Prince Andrew may never face true justice in a court of law, but his reputation is permanently toxic. No matter how many palace operatives try to rehabilitate him, the no matter how many articles attempt to soften his image, the world will always remember what he did and who he did it with. He will never outrun the truth, not with a title, not with a horse, not with a crown, because some stains don't wash off. They burn in. And yet Prince Andrew continues to linger like a ghost in the halls of power, never entirely gone, never fully held accountable. Every time he resurfaces in the press, when, whether it's to attend some family function or plead for a return to public duties, it reopens the wound. He isn't just a disgraced royal. He's a festering symbol of how far powerful men can fall and still be offered a hand back up. No criminal charges, no public reckoning, just a quiet retreat, a hefty payout and a waiting room for redemption. And that's how mercy is rationed out to the elite. Even when they show no remorse. Virginia's story was never supposed to stand on its own. She was supposed to be drowned out, discredited, broken. But she didn't break. Her refusal to stay quiet forced the world to reckon with something it didn't want to see. That one of the Queen's own sons had been credibly accused of participating in a global sex trafficking ring. And when the institutions designed to deliver justice failed, when the royals circled the wagons, she stood alone in the storm. Her courage didn't just expose Andrew. It exposed the entire power structure that protected him. What makes Andrew's evasion of justice so grotesque is that it confirms what survivors already suspect. That the system doesn't work for them. That royalty, money, and influence are more effective than truth, evidence, or pain. That men like Andrew don't fear the law, they merely negotiate with it. And when those negotiations are complete, when the dust settles and the headlines fade, these men emerge with their privilege intact and their victims erased. And the message to survivors couldn't be clearer. If your rapist is powerful enough, you'll never get your day in court. You'll get a settlement. You'll get vague denials. You'll get character assassination. But what you won't get is accountability. What you won't get is a system that believes you over a prince. And what you won't get is the catharsis of seeing the man who hurt you face real consequences. In Andrew's case, silence was not only bought, it was rewarded. The monarchy rewarded it. The media rewarded it. The world, by large, rewarded it. Even now, those who criticize Andrew are met with royal apologists who plead for privacy and. And dignity for the disgraced duke, as if he were the one who suffered irreparable harm, as if he were the victim of this story. It's a reversal that only makes sense in a world where hierarchy trumps humanity and legacy outweighs lives. The very notion that Andrew could one day return to public life is not just tone deaf, it's barbaric. It spits in the face of survivors who risked everything to. To expose the truth. And still. And still, no one dares to open the doors wider. No subpoenas for the royals. No public inquiry into how deep Epstein's access really went, no transparency about who else partook in the shadows of his empire. Because if Prince Andrew was part of it, and he was, then the world deserves to know. Who else walked through the same doors? Who else boarded those jets? Who else looked the other way while girls were trafficked and discarded? But that knowledge threatens the foundation of power. And power doesn't like to be threatened. So instead we get the theater of shame. A prince stripped of a few titles, a palace issuing carefully worded statements, a scandal locked away in non disclosure agreements and seal court records. And we're told that this is justice, that the matter is settled, that it's time to move on. But we don't move on from child sex trafficking. We don't move on from institutional complicity. We don't move on from an entire system that let this happen under royal noses and then washed its hands of it in the end. Prince Andrew's legacy is written not in royal deeds or military service, but in cowardice and betrayal. In silence. He had a chance to come clean, to cooperate, to apologize to. To show the world that even those born into power can choose truth. He chose the opposite. He chose cowardice. He chose a checkbook over a cross examination. And now he has to wear that decision forever. No matter how many uniforms he dons or horses he rides. History will not be kind to Prince Andrew. His name will forever be linked to one of the most vile predators of our time. And the more the world learns about Epstein, the more the darker the connection becomes. There's no cleansing it, no salvaging it. The best the monarchy can do now is keep him out of sight and hope the world forgets. But we shouldn't forget. Because forgetting would mean accepting that this is normal, that this is how things are supposed to be. And they're not. So let Andrew rot in his exile. Let him stew in the shame of his cowardice. Let him ride horses in the English countryside in the until the wind reminds him of who he really is. Not a prince, not a hero, not a man worthy of honor, but a parasite who fed off the suffering of others and called it privilege. The story of Prince Andrew isn't one of redemption. It's a cautionary tale. And one that we should never stop telling. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.