Palmer Luckey, a tech entrepreneur, has reignited his long-standing feud with Jason Calacanis, particularly after emails recently released from Jeffrey Epstein’s records brought Calacanis’ history with the convicted sex offender to light.
Documents from the Justice Department shared last week uncovered that Calacanis, an angel investor who was an early supporter of Uber, had sent Epstein a casual text 15 years ago saying, “Hey buddy.”
On June 4, 2011, emails showed Calacanis offered to connect Epstein with early Bitcoin developers Gavin Andresen and Amir Turki, which is quite remarkable given that Epstein had been convicted three years prior.
In those emails, Calacanis addressed Epstein as “Hello, friend,” casually indicated he was headed to a child’s birthday party, and assured Epstein he would “dig up information on them,” with Epstein then contacting Andresen directly.
Calacanis has maintained that his only interaction with Epstein occurred in the 1990s. He mentioned on social media last week, “I probably talked to Epstein for a total of 30 minutes in my lifetime.”
Luckey replied simply, “I don’t believe you.”
Luckey, who was let go from Facebook in 2017 after criticizing Calacanis for supporting President Trump’s campaign, took aim at Calacanis’ stance on social media last week. He wrote, “A man starts a VR company and donates to Trump. ‘A total idiot with no moral compass!’ Man rapes children: ‘Hey, bro!'”
After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, Calacanis reiterated that he had met Epstein just once in the 1990s during fundraising for a dot-com magazine. The meeting, as he described, was brief and occurred at Epstein’s New York townhouse, where he received advice to “think bigger.”
Luckey took issue with criticism directed at him concerning his 2016 pro-Trump donations and attributed part of his job loss at Facebook to Calacanis’ backlash. In August 2022, after Luckey’s defense company, Anduril, bagged government contracts, Calacanis attempted to mend fences, thanking Luckey for his work, which incited an irate response from Luckey.
He ranted against those he labeled “leeches and liars” who criticize influencers like him while having treated him poorly over the years.
The ongoing drama stems partially from Calacanis’ public critiques of Luckey throughout the 2016 campaign. It was disclosed that Luckey had donated $10,000 to Nimble America, a pro-Trump group, which stirred controversy and backlash in Silicon Valley, prompting calls for a boycott.
Calacanis has positioned himself as one of Luckey’s most vocal critics, questioning the need for tech executives to engage in political trolling, particularly given the fallout from Luckey’s actions.
The tension escalated further, leading to Luckey’s dismissal from Facebook in March 2017, following the prolonged public disputes.
