Latest news with #Gawker
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Elon Musk drops ‘really big bomb,' accuses Donald Trump of being in Epstein files as public brawl escalates
Elon Musk has gone low in his rapidly escalating feud with Trump, accusing him of withholding information about Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate the President himself. Elon Musk went low in his rapidly escalating feud with President Trump Thursday, accusing him of withholding information from the public about the infamous sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein because it would implicate Trump himself. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk posted on X after a multi-hour tirade against the president. '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.' 'That is the real reason they have not been made public,' he claimed. 'Have a nice day, DJT!' The Justice Department in February released more than 100 pages of Epstein's phone contacts and flight logs in a 'Phase One' disclosure that disappointed internet sleuths hoping for bombshell revelations. The disgraced financier's association with Trump has been known for years as the two were videotaped and photographed together at parties in the 1990s, and the initial batch of DOJ-released files only revealed the names of some family members — including Trump's first wife Ivana and daughter Ivanka — as Epstein contacts. Aides privately have acknowledged that the president's association with Epstein likely would resurface in a fuller release of files — though they don't believe that any alleged wrongdoing by Trump is described. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025 The contact list and flight logs appeared to be pulled directly from Epstein's 'little black book,' one of which was made public in 2021 during his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's trial and another of which was auctioned off. That 1990s-era contact list contains 349 names, 221 of which weren't included in a 2015 revealing of Epstein associates by the website Gawker. The black book being auctioned off reportedly contains 94 printed entries with 'black, hand-applied checkmarks, and five have been highlighted in yellow,' according to Alexander Historical Auctions. 'All five names, including that of Donald Trump, are well-recognized financial and industrial figures,' the online auctioneer's webpage notes. Online conspiracists have long speculated that high-power 'clients' of Epstein visited his private island Little St. James in the Caribbean, where many young women and underage girls were allegedly abused. Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Prince Andrew are just some of the famous passengers the financier flew on other trips aboard his private plane, later nicknamed the 'Lolita Express.' Epstein was found dead with bedsheets around his neck in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on Aug. 10, 2019, just over a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Last September, Trump said he'd have 'no problem' releasing more official files related to Epstein if elected — including the deceased pedophile's so-called 'client list.' 'I don't think – I mean, I'm not involved,' he noted. 'I never went to his island, fortunately, but a lot of people did.' The president reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2007 over an incident with a club member's teen daughter. Attorney General Pam Bondi has demanded the complete files be turned over to the DOJ after hinting at the FBI's New York Field Office being 'in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.' The ravings of the world's richest man, who until last month led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting crusade, shocked official Washington and set off speculation about Musk's state of mind. One source close to the White House explained Musk's behavior by saying that he 'fundamentally has an unstable, uncontrollable element to his personality and he lashes out.' 'He's had similar outbursts when running his companies. Sometimes greatest strength can also be greatest weakness,' this person said. 'Revenge, yes. Also, he wanted not just [electric vehicle] mandates [in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act] but a level of exclusivity for Tesla on the American EV market. And he didn't want fresh competitors like Faraday Future & others to cramp his style.' A second source close to the administration said there was a 50/50 chance Musk was either 'just throwing a temper tantrum' or 'creating distance [from Trump] thinking it'll help [Tesla] stock price.' Democrats grab popcornDemocrats watched the social media food fight with glee Thursday after months of flailing for traction amid unified Republican government in Washington — as Trump threatened to end billions in federal funding for SpaceX and Tesla, while Musk's opposition threatened to tank Trump's bill to implement campaign pledges to ax taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security. 'The Trump-Musk feud is like a reality TV episode of the 'Real Housewives', only with less stable people,' snarked Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committeeman from New York. 'It is just further proof this is all personal and about lining their own pockets and no one is actually doing what is good for the American people,' jabbed a high-ranking former Biden White House official. A congressional Democratic source noted that Musk was Trump's top financial backer in the 2024 election, making the sudden onset and ferocity of the feud even more shocking. 'Now that the Trump experiment to use the richest man in the world as his cash cow drone has failed, Trump must recalibrate or this will be a real problem for him, politically and personally,' the source said. 'For Donald Trump to have not seen this coming makes you both question everything, and worry.' Originally published as Elon Musk drops 'really big bomb,' accuses Donald Trump of being in Epstein files as public brawl escalates
The Advertiser
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
How Hulk Hogan's sex tape led to drug-friendly Games
What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games. What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games. What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games. What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. Backed by $10m of Thiel funds, Hogan wins damages to the tune of $100 million. Gawker goes bankrupt. Thiel was soon revealed as Hogan's bankroller. But D'Souza - the mastermind of a ruthless tactic earning some nods of approval among those in high society - stayed in the shadows, anonymous. Those who knew of his involvement in the case, knew him only as Mr A, adding to international intrigue. "I said I just want to be a private guy; I just want to go back to Australia, run my family property, business, run my start-ups," he said. "Today I am a very public figure but I was not comfortable with being a public figure 10 years ago. "The Gawker case, looking back, gave me the confidence to believe that I could do anything. "I'm very thankful to Peter Thiel because we decided to work on the Gawker case together when I was only 24 years old, I just met him socially." D'Souza remained connected with Thiel, who co-founded PayPal among other companies and was Facebook's first outside investor. And Thiel was an early investor when D'Souza floated Enhanced Games, a concept he nicked from an academic paper by Oxford bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu debating merits of a sports event for athletes on drugs. "It wasn't my idea. I just said: 'You know what? I'm going to make a business out of this'," D'Souza said. Two years ago, he envisioned Enhanced Games interest streaming from various US college facilities. But he was shocked by the level of interest - and cash - from left field. Thiel, who wants to be cryogenically preserved when he dies, was joined as a backer by fellow multi-billionaire venture capitalist and biotech pioneer Christian Angermayer, who credits a magic mushroom trip for changing his life and wants to commercialise psychedelics. The pair, and others, view Enhanced Games not as a sports and entertainment event, but a shop-front stake in an anti-ageing and health industry worth trillions of dollars. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games.
West Australian
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
How Hulk Hogan's sex tape led to drug-friendly Games
What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games.
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
How Hulk Hogan's sex tape led to drug-friendly Games
What does Hulk Hogan's home-made porno - with his mate Bubba the Love Sponge's wife - have to do with it? For Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, a fair bit. Hogan's romp is a link in the chain leading D'Souza to Las Vegas' sunset strip for this week's launch of Enhanced Games, a multi-sports event with no drug testing. D'Souza, a 40-year-old Melbourne-born businessman, has the backing of multi-billionaires, and a family company of US President Donald Trump. And he's pinching himself that a concept first planted in his mind 15 years ago when he read a bioethicist's paper is now in fruition. "I think about my life and it's like truth is stranger than fiction," D'Souza told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas. "If someone wrote the story of my life, you just couldn't believe it. "The Peter Thiel/Gawker case, that's a book and a movie in itself." The Gawker case involves Hulk Hogan and a home-made pornographic film. In 2006, the world famous wrestler was down in the dumps. A mate, a shock-jock known as Bubba the Love Sponge, offered his wife to Hogan. The wrestler agreed, on condition it wasn't recorded. Bubba lied, filmed the frolic and, six years later, it was leaked to a brash New York publisher known for flaunting rules, Gawker. In 2007, Gawker outed Thiel as gay. That article, while legal, enraged the German-born multi-billionaire who is now among financiers of D'Souza's Enhanced Games. The Australian met the German around 2010 when D'Souza, then 24, was completing a law degree at England's Oxford University. They got talking. Thiel told of his Gawker gripe. D'Souza got thinking. Why doesn't Thiel fund lawyers to find cases against Gawker, then sue them into extinction? Thiel agreed. When Gawker publishes Hulk Hogan's sex tape in 2012, D'Souza's plan swings into action. "This is when two of the largest industries in the world merge - care, and sports and entertainment," D'Souza said. "There's so many more partnerships to be done, so many more levers in public policy to push, so many avenues of science to advance. "I do view this as still as a human rights struggle because, fundamentally, the principle human right is to be able to do with own body what we wish. "And that might mean taking synthetic testosterone. It may mean prosthesis. It may mean brain computer interfaces. "If you read the scientific literature, there is a pipeline of all this technology being developed right now." D'Souza said Enhanced Games' mission was "bringing super humanity - making the first super human". "Probably today, only one-tenth of a per cent of Americans would view themselves as enhanced," he said. "But in a few years, that will be five per cent, 10 per cent. "And that's how we're going to measure this. "I could get hit by a bus today and this event, this movement, will continue to succeed and grow because it's not about me, it's not about even the company that we have built. "It's about cultural zeitgeist that is happening in the world. "We timed it right but I am certain that within 20 years' time, all sport will be enhanced." The event has been decried by sports administrators worldwide, most notably the Olympic movement. But D'Souza said Olympic criticism had quietened since 1789 Capital, a company of Donald Trump Jnr, recently jumped aboard as a partner of the fledgling games. "I think there's been an order from the very top, and I mean from (soon-to-be retired IOC president Thomas) Bach himself," D'Souza said. "Because of the support we have from the Trump administration, and that the LA28 Olympics are coming around, they don't want to be seen as opposing us. "Because if they do, that risks the political support for LA28 and LA28 needs billions of dollars of taxpayer money to succeed." This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games.
Time Magazine
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Time Magazine
‘We Can Literally Invent Humans 2.0': The Enhanced Games Envision More Than Events Without Drug Testing
When Kristian Gkolomeev woke up one morning in February, the last thing he expected to do was break a world record in the pool. The Greek swimmer and four-time Olympian, who finished fifth in the 50-m freestyle in Paris and Tokyo, had come to Greensboro, N.C., to take part in a preview of something called the Enhanced Games, a new start-up that plans to stage an Olympic-style competition permitting the use of most performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) currently banned in global sports. It was another athlete, however, who had come to make a splash that day. Retired Australian swimming star James Magnussen—a former world champion who won three Olympic medals—had said publicly in early 2024 that he'd 'juice to the gills' and break the 50-m freestyle world record if the Enhanced Games would put up a $1 million prize. Enhanced Games officials took him up on the offer. Magnussen, a few months into his PED regimen, was supposed to swim under 20.91 seconds, the mark César Cielo of Brazil set in 2009, in a timed solo effort to prove that the Enhanced Games concept—even before its first formal event launched—would result in performances the world has never before witnessed. But Magnussen, whose body ballooned with muscle while taking drugs, kept falling short. Gkolomeev, on the other hand, was just three weeks into his own low-dosage use of PEDs and feeling better than expected. So Gkolomeev put on a full-body polyurethane swimsuit, similar to the type worn by Cielo in 2009. (Such suits have been banned in competition since 2010, due to all the records that fell while swimmers wore them.) He hit the water and tapped the wall in 20.89 seconds, breaking the official world record and winning that $1 million prize. You won't find Gkolomeev's swim in any official record book, because it wasn't a sanctioned race, and because he was taking PEDs (Gkolomeev declined to detail his cocktail; the Enhanced Games say they advocate for transparency while also respecting privacy). But he found another kind of value in his accomplishment. 'I feel,' he says, 'kind of like a superhuman.' The Enhanced Games, which will announce today that they'll hold their debut event Memorial Day weekend 2026 in Las Vegas, are, at their core, selling fast times. Founded by entrepreneurs and investors Aron D'Souza, who encouraged Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel to bankroll Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker, which ultimately bankrupted the outlet, and Christian Angermayer, a psychedelic evangelist, they are betting that consumers just want to see athletes swim and run as fast as possible, without biotechnical restrictions. They will stage events in swimming, track, and weightlifting and expect to sign up about 100 athletes, who will likely have to give up future Olympics aspirations if they're going to use drugs. Enhanced Games officials argue that while the Olympics focus on fairness (testing everyone to make sure no one has an advantage from PEDs), they're more concerned with safety (monitoring the medical profiles of athletes to ensure they're healthy enough to compete). They also note that most Olympians don't earn much money, whereas Enhanced Games athletes will receive better pay and benefits. And, they say, despite the testing protocols, there remains speculation about whether Olympic athletes are clean, so the Enhanced Games make that a nonissue. Rather than have male and female categories, Enhanced Games athletes will compete in XY or XX divisions, though it's unclear how the company will conduct chromosome testing, which has been deemed invasive and potentially inaccurate by many scientific experts and banned from the Olympics since 1999. Health and medical experts are already ringing alarms. 'This kind of reminds me of the Roman Circus,' says Charles Yesalis, professor emeritus of health policy at Penn State University and an expert on PEDs in sports. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says, 'If you want to destroy any concept of fair play and fair competition in sport, this would be a good way to do it,' while the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) calls the Enhanced Games a 'dangerous and irresponsible concept.' Olympic officials, however, might have to walk a diplomatic tightrope: in February, the Enhanced Games announced that 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, was leading a multimillion-dollar investment in the company. The Olympics are coming to L.A. in 2028, while President Donald Trump is still in office, and the President is featured front and center in a promotional video touting 1789's Enhanced Games play. Beyond the athletic competition, the Enhanced Games are making the grand case that safe use of PEDs at their events can trickle down to the general public, allowing people to live happier, healthier, and more productive lives. Their pitch arrives amid a growing interest in longevity, with scientists and biohackers alike looking for ways to extend and improve our years on this planet. When the Enhanced Games convened the Second Conference on Human Enhancement in December, Bryan Johnson, the subject of the Netflix doc Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, was a keynote speaker. This effort also comes at a time when many Americans are fired up about defending personal freedoms–whether it's their right to opt out of vaccines or to put performance-enhancing substances in their bodies. Still, how this new addition fits into the sports landscape remains to be seen. Controversy over risk, fairness, and athletic legitimacy feels almost guaranteed. And of course there's the question of demand. The Olympics, even with all their flaws, broke all sorts of viewership records last summer. Is an audience really thirsting for a doped-up version? And is it all that impressive to push the limits of the human body when you've got Lord knows what in your system? As D'Souza tells it, he was at the gym one day in 2022 when he noticed just how many people around him did not come by their looks naturally. He started working on the Enhanced Games concept, confident there were plenty of athletes being denied opportunities because they took drugs that were perfectly legal in their countries but banned from competition. But it was on a walk around Biscayne Bay in South Florida over Christmas that year that he got a crucial vote of confidence. He shared the idea with his father, a 78-year-old medical professor specializing in cardiology, who not only did not balk but saw real promise. 'The first thing he said was, 'The data that will come out of this will change the world,'' says D'Souza. Though participants don't have to reveal publicly what they're taking, organizers hope they'll enroll in an independently approved clinical trial assessing the impact of PEDs on elite athletes. The results could have implications for everyday living. 'We can literally invent humans 2.0,' says D'Souza. 'The compounds that allow athletes to run faster and jump higher are the same compounds that will allow my dad to walk up a flight of stairs.' A medical commission will be tasked with overseeing a battery of blood, heart, brain, and bone tests to ensure athletes are not subjecting themselves to undue risk in competition. A scientific body will communicate key findings to the public. 'We're not in the business of sports, we're in the business of science and cultural change,' says D'Souza. 'And the cultural change that will be the most profound will be a view that medicine is not just about making sick people less sick. Medicine is also an important tool to elevate human performance.' To execute this vision, the Enhanced Games will need a significant audience against which to sell media rights: Officials say TV and streaming outlets have expressed interest in distributing the first event. A planned direct-to-consumer line of supplements and FDA-approved performance enhancers could provide another revenue stream. 'I don't see anything intrinsically wrong with the Olympics,' says D'Souza. But he doesn't like that they're the only option for a multisport international event testing 'Citius, Altius, Fortius,' or 'Faster, Higher, Stronger.' 'Competition is very healthy,' he says. 'The fact that the IOC has a monopoly in sports governance today is problematic.' D'Souza, who is Australian, brought the Enhanced Games idea to Angermayer, a billionaire investor from Germany whom Thiel had first connected him with more than a decade ago. And Angermayer, the founder of the multibillion-dollar fund Aperion Investment Group, with holdings in crypto, biotech, and other sectors, agreed to partner in the venture, with backing from Thiel. Angermayer is also co-founder and chairman of atai Life Sciences, a clinical-stage psychedelic biopharma company with some $400 million in market cap. He sees a connection between mainstream acceptance of psychedelics and the potential of the Enhanced Games. Society has come around on a variety of things that were once broadly considered taboo: Angermayer points to gay rights, but attitudes have also changed on marijuana and sports gambling, with consumers leaning more libertarian on such subjects. It's your choice to bet on basketball or take psychedelics. Angermayer sees the expected debut of the Enhanced Games, which he thought would take a few more years to get off the ground, as further proof of shifting winds. 'The zeitgeist has changed on all sorts of crazy ideas,' says Angermayer. He just hopes it hasn't shifted to the point where all Enhanced Games smoke subsides. 'I hope there are demonstrators on the street saying, 'This is bad!'' he says, with a laugh. 'Because doing that, and the controversies, drives attention.' While Angermayer might not get his protest marches, the Enhanced Games will have no shortage of opponents. 'They're potentially dangerous in several ways,' says Dr. Michael Joyner, a human-performance expert at the Mayo Clinic. For one, says Joyner, the long-term effect of PEDs are not well known: a whole population could be putting themselves at risk for damage. Second are the acute risks of substances like stimulants, which can lead to dehydration, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and more. While the best medical monitoring can give athletes a clean bill of health going into a race, if they were to, say, load up on stimulants moments before the start—knowing they won't be drug-tested afterward—the results could prove disastrous. Plus, it's no secret that young people look up to elite athletes. As a result of the Enhanced Games, increasing levels of PED use could reach high school sports, an unintended consequence of the endeavor. 'These Games are sending an inappropriate message to our children,' says Yesalis. Furthermore, says John William Devine, a lecturer in sports ethics and integrity at Swansea (U.K.) University, 'lifting the ban on performance-enhancing drugs would undermine the purpose of the sport themselves.' If it's impossible to separate the quality of a pharmacological cocktail from the will and skills of the athlete, an achievement can quickly lose its luster. 'The fact that you have run faster or lifted more or jumped longer or jumped higher doesn't necessarily mean that your performance is more excellent,' says Devine. Still, experts worry the Enhanced Games could steal some shine from the official record holders. 'It's a little bit unfortunate that it's a distraction from the greatest-ever performers we have out there,' says Joyner, citing Olympic champions like U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky and shot-putter Ryan Crouser, who also hold world records. 'You're looking for some edge, when these people are pushing limits so effectively within the rules.' Andrii Govorov, a Ukrainian swimmer who set the non-enhanced 50-m butterfly world record in 2018, says he's never taken a PED. As a new Enhanced Games athlete, he compares the anticipation of taking these drugs to someone with a fear of heights about to jump off a cliff. 'Of course I'm nervous,' says Govorov. 'I don't know what to expect.' Govorov is taking the plunge, however, for a host of reasons. For one, his future as an Olympic swimmer seemed uncertain. He competed in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, but just missed qualifying for Paris. After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he couldn't train consistently in his home country. He bounced from Hawaii to Germany to Spain to Portugal in the run-up to Paris, and the unpredictability affected his times. 'I was just a guest,' he says. 'I could never choose my preparation. You cannot break any record with that approach. You're a survivor.' The Enhanced Games will give Govorov access to training, support, and a personalized drug plan. It seemed like a better deal, especially since drug controversies have consistently dogged the Olympics, whether it was U.S. track stars being busted for doping early this century, the state-sponsored Russian sample-swapping antics in Sochi, or Chinese swimmers heading to Tokyo despite testing positive for banned substances (China claimed samples were contaminated in a hotel kitchen). 'The system is not providing fairness,' says Govorov. 'They are just trying to catch the mouse, and they never do it in the correct way.' Asked by Joe Rogan last year why an athlete would choose the Olympics given the incentives offered by Enhanced Games, Angermayer answered: 'Not our problem.' The IOC is finally adding Govorov's specialty, the 50-m butterfly, to the 2028 program. But he's still leaving his gold-medal dreams behind. 'I'll never come back, no matter what,' he says. 'This is a one-way ticket for me.' Chasing his own world record—and the $500,000 bonus he can get from the Enhanced Games if he sets the new 50-m butterfly mark–doesn't feel like settling. 'I could potentially be one of the first superhuman athletes on planet earth,' he says.
