Donald Trump Is In Epstein Files! DOJ Told Him Back in May!
PDS Published 07/23/2025
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You have got to be kidding me.
… Is what Donald Trump reportedly said when he picked up the phone yesterday, and CNN was on the other end. [Image]
Because what the outlet was calling to ask him about was a handful of newly unearthed photos and video footage putting Trump and Jeffrey Epstein together on several more occasions than were previously known. [Image]
Starting with this one in 1993, when a photographer captured Trump and his kids, Eric and Ivanka, together with Epstein at the opening of the Harley Davidson Cafe in New York. [Image]
Then, two months later, the same photographer snapped a photo of Epstein entering the Plaza Hotel to attend Trump’s wedding to Marla Maples. [Image and image]
With Epstein popping up in another photo from that wedding amidst a group of other guests like a pedophilic Where’s Waldo. [Image]
And lastly, archival footage from a 1999 Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York shows Trump and Epstein laughing and chatting together before the models came out. [B roll, 01:45]
Which wasn’t the first time they attended a Victoria’s Secret event; right, we can see them together at an Angels party two years earlier as well. [Image and images]
Now as for Trump’s response to this, I’ll just let CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski [Kuh-zinsky] describe it. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 02:29 - 02:45]
With the White House communications director later adding:
“These are nothing more than out-of-context frame grabs of innocuous videos and pictures of widely attended events to disgustingly infer something nefarious.” [Quote]
But the thing is, adding context doesn’t exactly make Trump look any better here.
Right, because since 2019, and especially over the past few weeks, the media’s been digging up more and more evidence showing just how close Trump and Epstein were.
With the New York Times publishing a piece over the weekend detailing the evolution of their friendship, which apparently started around 1990 when Epstein bought a property near Mar-a-Lago. [Headline]
Then, in 1992, NBC captured Trump and Epstein at a party in Mar-a-Lago with cheerleaders, with Trump at one point dancing among a crowd of young women. [B roll, 00:00 - 00:02, 00:07 - 00:10]
Then later appearing to whisper something in Epstein’s ear while pointing at other women, causing him to double over with laughter. [B roll, 00:43]
And months later, when Trump hosted another party there for young women in a so-called calendar girl competition, the organizer recalls having been surprised to discover that Epstein was the only other guest. [Quote, find “only other guest”]
With him telling the Times, “I said, ‘Donald, this is supposed to be a party with V.I.P.s. You’re telling me it’s you and Epstein?’” [Quote]
Also, the organizer’s girlfriend at the time later accused Trump that night of taking her into a bedroom, forcibly kissing and fondling her, and restraining her from leaving. [Image and quote, find “admiring”]
But the friendship continued, with flight logs showing that Trump flew on Epstein’s jet at least seven times over four years in the 1990s. [Quote, find “seven times”]
Then, in 2000, Trump appeared alongside Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew at a Mar-a-Lago charity fundraiser. [Image]
And CNN just reported that in his 2004 book “How to Get Rich,” Trump described taking a call from a man he dubbed “the mysterious Jeffrey.” [Quote]
Writing, “As mysterious as Jeffrey is, he’s one of the few people I know who can get by on just a first name. My staff never asks for a last name in his case, which in a way puts him up there with Elvis. Not that Elvis calls in much these days, but you never know.” [Quote same link]
Now it’s unclear whether that’s Epstein or some other mysterious man named Jeffrey, but it’s reminiscent of the cryptic birthday letter to Epstein a year earlier, in which Trump appeared to call the man an “enigma” and alluded to wonderful secrets they shared. [Quote]
As well as a comment about them having a lot in common, which really makes one wonder what kind of stuff that might be.
And if you ask the Times:
“What seemed to draw them together, according to those who knew them at the time, was a common interest in hitting on — and competing for — attractive young women at parties, nightclubs and other private events.” [Quote]
And even Trump himself seemed to admit as much in 2002, when, after calling Epstein a “terrific guy” whom he’d known for 15 years, he told New York Magazine: [Quote]
“It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” [Same quote]
And although the White House has maintained that Trump cut off ties with Epstein because he was a “creep,” reporting from the Times and the Washington Post suggest the split may have been over a real estate deal they had competed for. [Quote, find “French” and quote, find “rivals”]
So yeah, all of this may just be evidence of two rich and powerful men hanging out as rich and powerful men do, or maybe it suggests something darker.
Either way, it seems like new bits of information, new allegations, new photos and videos keep emerging on a weekly if not daily basis.
And Trump is doing everything he can to deflect to literally anything else — threatening to arrest Obama, blackmailing the Washington Commanders, even posting weird videos like this one of incredible stunts, such as a woman catching a cobra midstrike with her bare hand.
That’s fake, by the way.
But the fire underneath Trump’s feet is certainly not, and we’ll have to see if it keeps growing and growing, or if people eventually give up and move on to other news.
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Bryan Kohberger (Co-burger) is facing the families of his victims today, and they are holding nothing back.
Right, earlier this month Co-burger pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students.
And this has been one of the most high-profile cases in the nation ever since the murders occurred in 2022, prompting a manhunt that led to his arrest.
He took a plea deal that gave him four life sentences as opposed to the death penalty, []
And today, he had his sentencing hearing, where families of the deceased and the surviving roommates got to address him and the court.
And notably, many of these family members were not happy about the deal he reached, thinking he should be getting the death penalty.
And their grief and anger was clear as they delivered their messages, with the sister of victim Kaylee Goncalves (kay-lee gone-sal-vez) getting a lot of attention online for saying this:
“Don’t ever try to convince yourself that you matter just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you. You want the truth? Here’s the one you'll hate the most: If you hadn’t attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your fucking ass.” (0:21-0:43)
And many of the other family members also repeated this idea that he is of no importance, that this is the story of four people who were taken too soon, and his memory will not live on.
“The world is watching because of the kids. Not because of you. Nobody cares about yThe world is watching because of the kids. Not because of you. Nobody cares about youou.” (0:39-0:44)
"I realized this moment isn’t about you, it’s about justice for Xana, Ethan, Kaylee and Maddie. It’s about honoring the beautiful, beautiful people, they were and still are in God’s eyes." (1:00-1:13)
“Her light still shines and her voice will echo louder than this pain. You didn't take that from us and you never will.” (2:49-3:58)
“You are entering a place where no one will care who you are and no one will ever respect you. You will be forgotten, discarded, used and erased. You will always be remembered as a loser and absolute failure. When those prison doors slam shut behind you, I hope that sound echoes in your heart for the rest of your meaningless days.” (3:23-3:45)
Other family members focused on the pain they felt, the losses in their lives without their child or sibling or grandchild:
“Maddie was my only child that I ever had. She, she, she was the only great thing I ever really did and the only thing I was really ever proud of.” (1:13-1:28)
“My heart aches for the kids’ roommates and for the families of the other victims, and also the family of the perpetrator….Going forward, we Mogens are choosing to put our energy and focus into honoring Maddie’s too short life and sweet spirit.” (6:53-7:22)
And you also moments where family members said they forgave Co-burger, like the aunt of Xana Kernodle (Zan-uh like Vanna ker-no-duhl):
“You know, this is probably going to bother everybody, but Bryan, I am here today to tell you I have forgiven you. Because I could no longer live with that hate in my heart. And for me to become a better person, I have forgiven you. And any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number, I’m here.” (2:12-2:35)
And that last part there, about her still wanting answers, that is a huge part of this case, because the motive still remains unknown, we don’t know why these four kids were killed.
And today, Co-burger declined to speak, so it still is a big and disturbing question mark.
But some of the most talked about statements come from the two roommates who survived.
Right, there were two other people home at the time of the murders, and one said she heard what sounded like crying from another room, and she later opened her door and saw a man in black clothes and a mask, and once he left she began texting another roommate who lived. []
But they did not call 911 until a friend discovered one of the bodies the next day.
And their story prompted a ton of judgement, but they got to share their pain and perspective with the public today.
“I couldn’t be alone. I had to sleep in my mom’s bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes. Terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there. I made escape plans everywhere I went. If something happens, how do I get out?” (2:45-3:05)
“My nervous system never got the message that it is over, and it won’t let me forget what he did to them. People call me strong, they say I’m a survivor, but they don’t see what my new reality looks like. They don’t see the panic attacks. The hypervigilance, the exhaustion.” (3:55-3;15)
“What if it happens again? What if next time, I don’t survive?” (4:39-4:45)
“I was still out of it and still didn’t know what happened. If I had known, I of course would have called 911 right away. I still carry so much regret and guilt for not knowing what had happened and not calling right away, even though I understand it wouldn’t have changed anything, even if the paramedics had been right outside the door.” (8:470-9:06)
“I hated and still hate that they are gone, but for some reason, I am still here, and I got to live. I still think about this every day. Why me? Why did I get to live and not them? For the longest time, I could not even look at their families without feeling sick with guilt.” (10:29-10:45)
And then, after all the statements were read, the judge formally sentenced Co-burger to four consecutive life sentences.[]
And he also told families to sort of release themselves from wondering what the motive is, saying that “there is no reason for these crimes that could approach anything resembling rationality.”[]
So that is where we are on this case, and any thoughts you have on what the families said, where it landed, I would love to know.
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Democrats and Republicans are in an all-out war over redistricting, and the outcome could upend the midterms and decide control of the House.
Ultimately determining whether Trump’s legislative agenda will be blocked for half of his presidency, or if he will be able to spend his last two years in office enacting policies that will impact Americans for decades to come.
And this battle has been brewing for a while now, but it has really exploded over the last few weeks because of an ongoing situation playing out in Texas.
Right, back in June, The New York Times reported that Trump was pushing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session of the legislature to redraw congressional districts so Republicans could gain as many as four or five seats in midterms.
And that would be massively significant for a few reasons.
First of all, that alone could be enough to tip the scales to determine the control of Congress if the elections are tight.
Right, Republicans currently only hold 219 seats in the House, so they can barely afford any net losses.
And secondly, mid-decade redistricting is extremely rare — normally, states redraw their maps at the beginning of each decade when the new census comes out and congressional seats are reallocated to match population shifts nationwide.
But Texas actually has a history of successfully redistricting mid-decade to benefit Republicans and cement their power.
Right, after taking control of the state legislature, Republicans passed new maps in 2003 that tore apart Democrat-held districts, successfully giving the GOP a majority of congressional seats in the state.
Before that, Democrats actually held 17 of the state’s seats while Republicans controlled 15.
But in the first election after the redrawing, Republicans successfully won 4 more seats — collecting a total of 21, and leaving Dems with just 11.
So clearly, there is precedent for using gerrymandering in Texas to gain seats in the House.
And a month after The Times published its report about Trump’s push for a special session in Texas, Abbott did exactly that.
Announcing on July 9th that he was convening a session largely meant to address the tragic flooding that killed at least 135 people.
But the agenda also included a number of other legislative priorities, including — you guessed it — congressional redistricting.
With Abbott specifically citing a letter from Trump’s Justice Department sent just two days earlier, where the agency claimed that four of Texas’s congressional districts had been racially gerrymandered.
Arguing that the districts had been drawn so that Black and Latino people made up the majority of the population — a move that the DOJ says is unconstitutional.
And Abbott appeared to agree, reportedly acknowledging concerns that some districts were drawn “along strict racial lines.”
But Democrats are calling bullshit, arguing that this is clearly just a thinly veiled excuse for Republicans to redraw the districts so they can win more seats and ensure Trump can keep control of Congress.
And there are a few reasons that back up their claims here.
First of all, the map that the DOJ and Republicans now say is a racial gerrymander? Yeah… that was literally drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature after the 2020 census…
So Republicans are now basically saying the map THEY drew is racially gerrymandered.
But that actively contradicts sworn statements they have made in the past.
Right, immediately after the GOP approved their most recent maps, numerous different rights groups sued, alleging that the maps do the exact OPPOSITE of what the Trump administration now claims —
That the maps actually discriminate AGAINST Black and Latino voters because they were designed to dilute their voting power by gerrymander.
Now, notably here, that lawsuit is still playing out in the courts.
But Republicans have REPEATEDLY defended their maps in legal filings and proceedings by arguing that the GOP used a race-blind process to draw the boundaries.
Which is why you have Democrats saying Abbott’s apparent contradiction here just proves that he is using this as a political ploy to carry out Trump’s marching orders to create more Republican seats.
And meanwhile, Trump isn’t even really trying to pretend there is a pretense for doing this — he has openly made it very clear that his intent here is to get more red seats.
Right, when asked by a reporter last week about the special session in Texas and how many seats he wants to pick up, Trump responded:
TRUMP:“I think we get five. And I think there could be some other states. We’re going to get another three, or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one.”
REPORTER: “So are you calling then for a complete redrawing of the Congressional maps?”
TRUMP: “No. Just a simple redrawing, we’d pick up five seats. We have a couple of other states where we’ll pick up seats also.” 00:11 - 00:30
Right, and with the special session in Texas kicking off this week, Republicans have reportedly made the redistricting effort their number one priority.
With The Times now reporting that Republican lawmakers are holding off votes on measures to address the deadly floods until AFTER they can approve their redistricting plans in order to prevent Democrats from staging a walkout and blocking their new maps.
Right, if Dems can stage a walkout to deny Republicans the quorum needed to hold a vote, they would also be impeding flood-related legislation.
Which is we’ve seen tons of Democrats in Texas lashing out, condemning Abbott for slipping this into a special session dedicated to addressing the floods and condemning Republicans for putting their needs above the victims, one state rep arguing:
“You're using one of the absolute worst tragedies that has hit Texas families in a long time - since, like, Uvalde - and use that to give yourself a political advantage. What kind of craven, disgusting political maneuver is that?”
Now, notably here, there are some major political risks that come with this effort — beyond just the bad optics.
Right, for one, any map the GOP approves is all but certain to face legal challenges.
But, at the same time, those legal battles can take years to resolve, and experts say a flawed map could easily still be in place for the midterm elections and help determine control of the House even if it’s later found to be illegal.
Additionally, if Republicans try to claim too many new seats, it could actually end up hurting them and endangering the more solidly red districts they currently hold.
Right, in order to gerrymander the maps that benefit their party, the GOP has to redraw the lines to push Republican voters into neighboring Democratic districts.
But doing so dilutes the Republican voters in the district they pulled from, effectively making the district they siphoned from more competitive for Dems.
But arguably the biggest risk is that this effort could cause a redistricting arms race around the country, with blue states countering by gerrymandering THEIR districts to benefit Democrats.
And already we’re seeing numerous party leaders vowing to do exactly that.
With one of the most notable players there being California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying in a press conference last week:
“We can act holier than thou. We can sit on the sidelines, talk about the way the world should be. Or, we can recognize the existential nature that is this moment.”
Right, and that would be absolutely massive if California redrew its maps — California, the most populous state in the U.S. and has 52 House seats, 43 of which are held by Democrats.
And experts say that if California redrew, Dems could easily gain two or three seats — maybe even as many as five or six.
But that’s a really big “if” — it would be very hard and potentially even impossible for California to redistrict because the state uses an independent commission for drawing political maps.
Unlike Texas, where the Republican-controlled legislature has that power.
And while Newsom has floated some ways to get around that, there would be major hurdles.
But still, like I mentioned, it’s not just California.
New York Representative Ritchie Torres saying that if Republicans do this, Democrats will have no choice but to fight back.
With him telling Morning Edition:
“But if Republicans are going to rewrite the rules in the middle of the game and redraw maps in Texas, which could yield up to five seats, then we have no choice but to respond and reciprocate.” 1:39 - 1:48
“To just simply stand by passively and allow Republicans to rig the process in their favor is actually a form of complicity. It's the opposite of protecting democracy. (2:43-2:53)
And Senator Elissa Slotkin saying she’s prepared to go “nuclear,”
With CNN reporting that in Congress, plans are already in motion, saying:
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his political team have begun privately shaping a legally risky — and likely expensive — strategy to redraw House maps in several Democratic-controlled states.”
And while some Democrats are reportedly worried about throwing their districts deep into the trenches of partisan politics,
It’s also important to note that redistricting efforts by Republicans haven’t been limited to Texas - this is a nationwide ordeal.
In Ohio, for example, state lawmakers are gearing up to redraw their lines as well.
Because the state’s current map, approved by Ohio Redistricting Commission in 2022 after some changes ordered by the state Supreme Court back, is set to expire next year.
So it has to be redrawn for next year’s election.
And Republicans - who hold the majority in the state Congress - are looking to take advantage of the competitive nature of a couple of districts that right now, are held by Democrats. []
By, that’s right, redrawing the lines in their own favor.
The question is just how aggressive are they going to get - with some reports saying Republicans within the state are going for a 12-3 map. []
That’s 12 red districts and 3 blue ones.
While others say that they’re debating a 13-2 map - leaving Cleveland and Columbus the only 2 Democratic districts in the state. []
Either way, that’s a big jump from the 10 to 5 map they have now.
So we’re definitely going to keep an eye on Ohio.
But there are also reports saying that Republicans on the federal level are looking to even more states like Missouri, Florida, New Hampshire, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, and Nebraska. [][]
Although, I should mention, in many of those states, the gains would amount to no more than one seat.
And so yeah, while we’re eyeing this situation in Texas right now, whatever happens here is almost certainly guaranteed to shape the political landscape of this country for potentially decades to come.
Go to Rocket Money to cancel your unwanted subscriptions.
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The V-tubing world just blew up after one of its biggest creators put the biggest talent agency in the space on blast for not paying creators and possibly stealing charity money.
First things first -- if you don’t know what a Vtuber is, it's someone who uses an animated avatar for when they stream. [broll]
Fans of the space started raising eyebrows after the biggest name in the space, Ironmouse, suddenly stopped streaming.
And this isn’t like a big creator just within a niche space.
Ironmouse was at one time the most subscribed to person on Twitch before barely being beaten out by Kai Cenat.
She also added to the confusion when she cryptically tweeted out “I have so many questions man” on Sunday.
But Monday, she dropped a bomb in a video called Why I left VShojo,
With VShojo being the talent agency I mentioned a second ago.
According to her:
“I recently found out that for the past couple of months I have been misled by Vshojo. With the information that I currently have I believe that I am owed a significant amount of funds which I have not been paid. And most unfortunately that the thing that hurts me the most is that the Immune Deficiency Foundation which is the most important charity to me and also the reason why I am here today -- is owed over half-a-million dollars from Vshojo.” 0:04-0:40
Ironmouse went on to say that she can’t give many more details on the advice of her legal team.
And the rest of the video goes into her story and how she suffered from an autoimmune disease, which is why she was SO bothered that the Immune Deficiency Foundation never got the $500,000 she raised for them.
Following this we saw a lot of other creators come out and react.
For example, CdawgVA jokingly tweeted out:
“Well vshojo better get cycling and start raising some money. 🤡🤡”
Which is a reference to the various cycling charity streams he’s done across Japan.
Case-Oh also commented on the situation when asked if he saw it, saying:
“I did see that, I was like legitimately -- bro there’s no way they did my homie Ironmouse like that. I was hurt.” @0:08
It also didn’t take long for a lot of other talent at Vsojo to start removing the company from their bios, implying they had a mass exodus on their hands.
Many of them made it seem like this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and that they’ve been dealing with issues for a while.
For example, music composer Starlight Daryl claimed they were screwed by the company and wrote:
“Nowhere near what Mouse is going through, but for the past [approx] year Vshojo has been habitually late in paying me for commissions, sometimes leaving thousands of dollars of my invoices unpaid for months at a time. I tried to be patient, but knowing they were stealing charity money from Mousey while this was all happening makes me SICK to my stomach.” []
The drama didn’t stop there.
Kson (kay-son), who is one of Vshojo’s other major creators -- decided to confront one of the company’s CEOs.
And if you’re confused why it has 2 CEOs, it’s because Vshojo is split in two, with one half catering to English-speaking audiences and the other Japanese.
She called the Japanese exec since she speaks both languages.
Unfortunately we don’t have any staff who speaks Japanese beyond what you’d hear in an anime so we’re relying on translations made by others, and here’s the gist:
Kson says she hasn’t been paid since last September -- that’s almost an entire year.
However there was some confusion because the Japanese CEO said that his side of the company is doing well… which led Kson to demand to know why she wasn’t getting paid if there was money?
The CEO tried to back peddle and say that he was taking a big pay cut -- although staff was still getting paid -- which led to Kson reportedly saying something along the lines of “talent first my ass, was it like, staff first?”
And during the call she said “I quit vshojo today. [Japanese] I quit VShojo.” @0:08
However her quitting was made slightly less dramatic after she revealed she was planning on leaving at the end of the month anyways.
As for the English-side of the company, which is where a lot of the drama is stemming from, it’s mostly been radio silence, with fans pointing out that the CEO of the English-side hasn’t said anything since this all started.
There are hints it just imploded, like the fact that the merch store has been taken down
But it’d be hard to see how they recover considering it looks like almost their entire English-speaking roster has left.
On top of all this, there’s also strong suggestions that a staff member at Vshojo was using their position to doxx the real identities of talent.
And doxxing is already a shit thing to do, but in a space where many people don’t want to be seen, it’s considered an even worse betrayal.
There is some good news out of all this though.
Fans have come together to raise money for the Immunodeficiency Foundation, which is the charity that Ironmouse raised $500,000 for only to have Vshojo never pay them.
(Although by the time this is released don’t be surprised if it hits $1 million)
Some of the donations were massive on their own, with companies like GamerSupps giving $15,000.
While on the individual level we saw everyday people give thousands and creators like Ludwig and CdwagVA handing over $5,000.
Ludwig both bashed and praised the internet over this situation, tweeting:
“the internet is, at times, one of the most callous uncompassionate corners of humanity
but it also has the power to rally people together behind a pure and just cause within 24 hours of ironmouse announcing that vshojo withheld $500k owed to charity people came together and raised over $600k towards the immune deficiency foundation!! [it] is so inspiring.” []
Being Ludwig, he also couldn’t let the opportunity for a joke to pass him by and earlier said, “i believe vshojo is a terrorist organization.” []
The entire saga has left fans wondering what went wrong in the space.
Some made jokes like “Vshojo just learned the biggest industry lesson that everyone in modern media has known for over a century. Don't fuck with the Mouse.” []
Others pointed out that Vshojo contracts were fairly lax and let creators keep almost all of their revenues while still getting a ton of services, making the entire thing unsustainable.
It also didn’t help that apparently Vshojo is just one of a few Vtuber talent agencies on the rocks right now.
And really this is just the latest in a long line of talent agencies falling apart across the space.
Not that I’m saying you should trust them, but rather it shows just what a volatile space this is.
And for Vshojo who knows what will happen -- especially since it seems like a lot of the talent wants to go after it in court.
[You might have experience with this or know others who have. Good spot to add that touch].
So we’ll just have to wait and see and in the meantime let me know what you think.
Oh, and really the worst thing to come out of this story is that my twitter timeline is now filled with Vtuber drama.
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And then, if you are a woman who relates deeply to this TikTok audio:
“Why would a man be there? Why would a man be there? No, it’s actually pissing me off.” (1:02:30-1:02:33)
Then Uber has some good news for you.
Because the app is launching a feature in the U.S. that will give women riders and drivers the option to be paired with other women when selecting rides.
Right, so if you’re a girl calling a car, you can ask that your driver be a woman, and it works the other way around if you are a female driver who wants women passengers.
Uber announced the news this morning, saying pilots of this program are beginning in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit in the next few weeks.
And for riders, it’ll work in a few ways,with the first just being a button allowing you to choose a woman driver as you call a ride, so you can just do it on demand.
But, because women only make up about one in five Uber drivers, this does not guarantee you will get a woman right away.[]
So if the wait time is too long, you can opt for another ride with a faster pickup time instead. []
But if you want to increase your odds of getting a female driver, you can also reserve a ride in advance to pre-book a woman behind the wheel, and you can also set a preference in your settings to increase your chances.
Then for drivers, they can toggle a “Women Rider Preference” filter in their settings, that will allow them to be matched with other women on essentially every trip, and they can turn that feature off whenever they want.
With Uber hoping this will actually attract more female drivers. []
And if you do book a ride using these settings and have been told by the app you will be meeting a woman either as a driver or rider, but a man ends up showing up,[]
Well, according to the Verge, Uber recommends you cancel the ride and report the incident to Uber, though the app does require identity verification to hopefully prevent this from happening.
And something interesting here is this is not the first time Uber has launched a feature like this before.
Back in 2019, Uber introduced a Women Rider Preference in Saudi Arabia not long after a landmark law gave women the right to drive.
And after that was a success there, Uber rolled that out to 40 other countries.
And the rival app Lyft also introduced a similar feature last year.
So now, Uber is trying to hop on and meet demand for the filter here in the U.S.
Because, as you may know, there have been thousands of sexual assault incidents reported during Uber rides.
In the company’s most recent safety report, it found 2,700 cases of sexual assault between 2021 and 2022, []
Which is a decrease from previous years, but as the report explained:
“We know that even one report of sexual assault or harassment is one too many, which is why we’re continuing our work to end sexual violence on the Uber platform.”
“National data shows that women are disproportionately affected by sexual violence. In Uber-related reports of non-consensual sexual penetration, women were 89% of the survivors, while men represented 8%.”
Right, so by matching women with women, the hope is that assault rates would go down.
And according to Uber’s data, riders really are the ones whose safety is most at-risk, as 68% of sexual assault incidents were reported against drivers, and just 31% were reported against riders.
But that does not mean that driving is a walk in the park for women.
Right, back in 2022, The Verge did a big report talking to a couple dozen female rideshare drivers in the U.S. and many had stories of sexual harassment, unwanted advances, and other generally shitty scenarios.
With one driver even saying:
“It just feels like they don’t care about our safety.”
So some carry pepper spray and other weapons, even if they app they are driving for bans them.
Others dress in baggy or more masculine clothes or wear fake weddings bands and say they have a husband in law enforcement, with one driver claiming:
“Men will always respect other men more than women.”
But on top of this new feature just protecting women drivers and passengers from potential harm, Uber stands to benefit from this as a company, too.
Right, they have faced tons of lawsuits over sexual assault in the past.
In fact, just in March a San Francisco judge ruled that over 1,600 sexual assault claims agaisnt Uber could move forward and merge.
And obviously, the company would like to limit the amount of mass litigation it has to deal with, so any policy that could prevent these kinds of cases helps them, too.
But I would love to know your thoughts on this, especially if you are a woman who uses Uber a lot, is this a feature you will try, is this something you have been hoping for?
And how do you think it will work, do you think it will be a success here, are you afraid there are not enough female drivers for it, that there could be room for abuse of the feature, any thoughts you have I would love to hear.
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