Top Podcaster Shawn Ryan Fires Back at Summer Camp Linked to Child Abuse Allegations Over Video He Won’t Remove
“I don’t negotiate with ped*philes or the people who defend them.”
Top podcaster Shawn Ryan is firing back after a Christian summer camp is threatening a lawsuit over his discussion of child sexual abuse allegations.
The controversy surrounds Kanakuk Ministries, a Christian camp in Branson, Missouri, with a history of child abuse in the early 2000s.
Elizabeth Phillips, a guest of Ryan’s in a past interview, alleged grave misconduct tied to Kanakuk Ministries. And now the Missouri-based summer camp is demanding Ryan take that portion of his interview down.
We’re unpacking that story and nine more today. Here are the top headlines.
#10 - Shawn Ryan responds after a Christian summer camp threatens to sue him for discussing allegations of child sexual abuse.
“I don’t negotiate with ped*philes or the people who defend them.”
Kanakuk Ministries is demanding Ryan take out a portion of an interview that alleged “Kanakuk employees have been molesting thousands of kids for years and putting them under NDAs after settlements so they can never come out and talk about their sexual abuse and trauma.”
Here’s Ryan’s response to that demand:
“No. I don’t negotiate with ped*philes or the people who defend them. I’m not taking anything down. I’m not apologizing, and I’m damn sure not going to stop talking about child sexual abuse in a Christian camp that continues to operate on the same grounds where horrific abuse took place.
Let me be crystal clear about the facts, facts that Kanakuk’s own lawyers admitted in their letter.
1.) Pete Newman, a senior Kanakuk employee and camp director, sexually abused children at Kanakuk for multiple years in the early 2000s. He’s now serving life sentences.
2.) Between 20 and 30 civil lawsuits were filed against Kanakuk.
3.) Multiple confidential settlement agreements were executed with victims’ NDAs that prevented these kids from speaking publicly about what happened to them.
Kanakuk can’t prove the number is less than thousands. And given their own admission of a cover-up, the true number is unknowable.”
The full interview about Kanakuk Ministries Ryan refuses to take down can be viewed here:
#9 - Film director grows visibly uncomfortable on-air as Piers Morgan presses him about a newly-unsealed photo of him with Epstein.
BRETT RATNER: “That picture in particular happened around 20 years ago… because that is a photo of my fiancée, who invited me to this event, and that’s where the picture was taken.”
“I was never in contact with Jeffrey Epstein before that photo, and I was never in contact with him after. So that’s a picture of me and my fiancée at some event.”
MORGAN: “So who was the fiancée, if you don’t mind me asking?”
RATNER: “You know, she doesn’t want me sharing her name in the case. But that’s my fiancée, 100% — WAS my fiancée!”
MORGAN: “But you’re not still [with her]?”
RATNER: “I’m not with her anymore... I was engaged to her when that photo was taken.”
MORGAN: “Right. And your position is you never met Epstein before or after that picture that night?”
RATNER: “No. Never. Never. Never.”
#8 - Adam Carolla goes off on Billie Eilish running her “f*cking face” about stolen land.
New reports reveal Eilish’s $14 million estate rests on Indigenous land that once belonged to the Tongva people.
Carolla has no problem with Eilish’s wealth, but he does have a problem with her lecturing everyone else when she’s “dumb.”
“Big house, big estate, big property, big bucks, lots of security. And she’s living the American dream. And I got no problem with that whatsoever. But shut your f*cking face. Just shut up. And the part where there’s backlash, and everyone’s going after her now. Yeah. Cuz you’re f*cking running your f*cking face and you’re dumb!”
#7 - Two CNN panelists get worked up on-air after a Republican says no one cares what celebrities think.
This is CNN.
CHRIS MADEL: “I get a little tired of Hollywood jackasses... telling us what to think.”
“Billie Eilish telling me that [America] is stolen land. I’d love to see her turn her keys back to her multi-million-dollar mansion to whomever is going to come over.”
STACY SCHNEIDER: “But if you don’t like it, don’t listen!”
CHRISTINE QUINN: “Why you say jackass?”
STACY SCHNEIDER: “Why are you irritated by her words?”
CHRIS MADEL: “Nobody cares what Hollywood thinks… Jennifer Lawrence, finally she said, ‘I’m not going to speak politically because nobody listens to us.’ And I think she’s 100% right.”
CHRISTINE QUINN: “That is not true. Many people do care what celebrities [think].”
CHRIS MADEL: “They care at your parties. They don’t care anyplace else.”
#6 - Stephen A. Smith points out how STUPID Gavin Newsom was to trash Trump in Davos weeks before the Super Bowl.
Trump is threatening to send ICE to the big game in CA, and Smith says he might do it just to get back at Newsom.
But Smith also reminded viewers what Trump told him in 2014.
“Donald Trump said to yours truly, quote, ‘If the motherf*ckers get in my way and prevent me from buying the Buffalo Bills, I’m gonna get them all back, Stephen A., I’m gonna run for president.’”
And with that history in mind, Smith asked this question: “If there’s an inconvenience to the NFL, you think he gonna feel guilty about it?”
Before we get to the next headline, make sure you’re following me. I publish a top 10 news roundup every Monday through Thursday, featuring stories mainstream outlets ignore.
#5 - Roger Goodell Says Bad Bunny & Green Day Won’t Get Political During the Super Bowl
“This platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity … I think Bad Bunny understands that and I think he'll have a great performance.”
Credit: Chief Nerd
#4 - Jury Awards $2 Million to Woman Who Sued Over ‘Gender-Affirming’ Surgery She Had as Teen
#2 - CNN’s Harry Enten makes heads explode when he says this:
“A photo ID to vote is not controversial in this country. It is not controversial by party — and it is not controversial by race. The vast majority of Americans agree with @NICKIMINAJ.”
H/T: Jason Cohen
#1 - Today’s top story centers on Bill Gates and the media storm surrounding him after the latest tranche of Epstein Files.
Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda, was asked how she’s feeling after the files suggest Bill Gates got an STD from “Russian girls” and planned to secretly medicate her.
Her response was filled with “unbelievable sadness,” but it was also missing something that social media users were quick to notice.
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