Omission of Epstein in AP Article on Roy Black
The Associated Press initially left out the fact that attorney Roy Black represented Jeffrey Epstein in its article published Tuesday, as pointed out by a review from the Daily Caller.
Black’s death was confirmed on Tuesday; he had played a role in helping Epstein secure a plea deal back in 2008, which allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges.
While Epstein faced multiple accusations from a girl alleging sexual abuse, his legal representation ultimately secured a contract that required him to serve only 13 months at the Palm Beach County Jail, allowing for daily work release.
Despite Black’s involvement in notable early cases, the AP’s initial report on his passing did not mention Epstein.
In fact, the original first paragraph stated: “Roy Black, a prominent Miami defense attorney who was acquitted at the 1991 William Kennedy Smith rape trial and was involved in many other well-known cases, died at the age of 80,” as reported by his legal partner.
On Wednesday, however, the outlet updated that opening sentence to include Epstein’s name, reading, “I read the prominent Miami defense attorney Roy Black, who was acquitted at the 1991 William Kennedy Smith rape trial and was involved in many other high-profile cases ranging from Justin Bieber to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the Daily Caller, Epstein’s name had not been mentioned prior to the modification. An archived version confirmed the omission.
Also, two additional paragraphs were added in the update that discussed Black’s actions in 2019, where he sought to prevent Epstein’s victims from resuming non-disclosure agreements after Epstein’s death.
The updated article noted that “Black tried to stop Epstein’s victims from resuming non-processing agreements that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to lesser state charges a decade ago.”
Interestingly, the AP did not provide any editor’s notes to indicate that this context had been added. The Daily Caller reached out to the AP for clarification on the initial omission, but there was no response by publication time.
