> No one who has met Celine would believe that she would ever lose control of how much she drinks...

This sort of thing is why you don't write your own "I've been accused of something bad" defense post. Yikes.

He’s saying that she usually drinks in moderation, isn’t he? Doesn’t seem like a “yikes” statement, unless I’m reading it incorrectly.

Yeah, he's saying she's too serious of a person to get drunk, that didn't strike me at all; that's easily corroborated by people that know her.

In his response, de Grey writes (bizarrely): “They do not write that a single woman has come to them with a ‘me too’ story. [...] Again: as to me, no other accusers, none, zero.”

What Halioua actually writes: “SENS is aware of all of this. The Board was brought testimonies from other women in the beginning of 2021. These testimonies include physical sexual abuse. SENS did not act.” (emphasis on original)

What Deming writes: “In the past few months, in part through conversations with Celine Halioua (who interned at SENS), I’ve learned it’s a serial pattern he’s enacted with women over whom he’s in a position of power.”

He’s, at best, making an intense misleading characterization of both of their claims on an easily verifiable, tangential point.

As for Khaltourina’s defense, well, in every case of serial sexual harassment that becomes public, there's always at least one woman saying “he didn't harass me, and what other people are claiming seems out of character”. (Same often with serial killers, too, though people are less likely to even paint that as a “defense”.)

That response admits the sexual references sent to a 17-year old and just quibbles with the idea that someone could initially chalk it up as a weird mistake, then change their mind after hearing of similar experiences of others.

As to the third-party defense: it is maybe unfortunate, but sadly fact, that the existence of one bank I did not rob, or even suspiciously stalked around in, does not proof that I did not rob any bank.

edit: this comment is as quickly approaching grey, as De Grey is approaching a 17-year old, apparently. I guess multiple accusation of sexual harassment are still the easiest way to establishing a fan base on HN.

Can anyone copy and paste this?

Seems to be disabled on the mobile version. Drop the m. subdomain and you can.

Aubrey de Grey: "I have, in the past few hours, been made aware of blog posts by Laura Deming and Celine Halioua that make extremely serious accusations against both me and SENS Research Foundation. Unsurprisingly, I deny these allegations. What may be more surprising to you is this: my belief is that both Laura and Celine have been deceived into the view that I have done many things that I have in fact not done. Nonetheless, since they have chosen to go public, I am left with no choice but to do the same. In order to orient you, let me point you to what Celine and Laura do not write. They do not write that a single woman has come to them with a me-too story, and they also describe their own personal experiences in decidedly incomplete terms. Laura references an email I wrote - inadvisedly, for sure, and which I unreservedly regret - to her when she was 17, but she explicitly states that "I wrote it off as a mistake" and that she only resurfaced it in the past few months at the instigation of others. Celine references a dinner where she and I sat together, and accuses me of saying certain things that I utterly deny ever saying and that she implies I said when she was drunk. No one who has met Celine would believe that she would ever lose control of how much she drinks, and most of her accusations concerning that dinner appear to be of other people, not of me. It is instructive that the very next day she wrote to me without the faintest hint of ambivalence, asking for additional feedback on her presentation, and that every one of our exchanges, of which the most recent was less than a year ago, has been of similarly untarnished character. (Also, I want to make clear that I was not aware until today of Celine's prior accusations against another person associated with SRF.) Again: as to me, no other accusers. Zero. No iceberg of which Celine is claiming to be the tip. I'm putting it out there right now: if other accusers come forward with supporting evidence, I will step aside a great deal faster than Cuomo just did. But if they don't... who's the real culprit here? Hint: in my ever-so-personal view, it's not Celine or Laura. The unequivocally clear conclusion that I draw from the above is that they have been set up. Celine has, only this year, been given - in my opinion - to believe that I did things at a 2018 dinner which had incongruously little influence on her email to me the next day. Laura, in turn, has - in my opinion - been given to believe that my one (albeit, I again admit and regret, ill-advised) email to her nine years ago was an example of a pattern, which it is not. The only basis of implausibility for this scenario is: who would have done this to them, and thence to me, and why? I have been vigorously advised to keep my counsel on that question for another day or two... but, as they say, watch this space. I can assure you that I will not allow this matter to end with the court of public opinion viewing the guilt as lying either with me or with Celine/Laura while the actual guilty parties laugh all the way to the bank thinking that only we will suffer."

The whole business is bad news generally, my feeling is it seems that potentially like so many cases that have often proven groundless that the people involved only start making accusations many years after the events they allege are purported to have taken place. We only have to look at some of the cases which have collapsed in the UK e.g Operation Midland to see how horrendous this type of situation can be for the innocent individuals involved.

My primary concern is the damage to the SENS foundation and its vital work because without the crucial role of Aubrey de Grey the work will in my opinion be severely hindered. I just hope this unfortunate issue can be wrapped up and resolved at the earliest opportunity.