Bill Ackman on Tuesday night published private text messages with Charlie Kirk — including an invitation he extended to the slain conservative activist “do dinner sometime with the ladies” — to swat down what he called slanderous claims by Candace Owens’ that he staged a Hamptons “intervention” to blackmail Kirk over Israel.
Ackman wrote on X that he had been “reluctant to post private texts, but in an effort to put this whole thing to bed I share the following brief exchange with Charlie” weeks before the conservative activist was slain.
To back up his point, Ackman attached a WhatsApp exchange showing a friendly back-and-forth with Kirk that he says took place following the disputed Hamptons get-together a month ago.
“How are you?” Kirk texted.
“I’m doing great, really enjoyed our time together last week. Thank you again for doing that,” Ackman responded. He suggested dinner with their wives: “It was great. And great to get to know you better. We should do dinner sometime with the ladies.”
“Absolutely, that would be awesome,” Kirk replied.
Ackman invited him to visit: “Let me know when you will be in NYC and we will have you over.”
“Thank you, i will. we are there a few times this fall,” Kirk wrote back.
“Great. Just let me know,” Ackman concluded.
The Pershing Square Capital Management boss invited readers to “ask yourself whether Charlie sounds like someone who I threatened, blackmailed and/or was the subject of an ‘intervention’ about Israel or otherwise.”
In his lengthy post accompanying the screenshot of the WhatsApp chat, Ackman said he was forced to share “a few facts, corrections, and receipts to dispel some misinformation going around social media.”
“The @TPUSA Hamptons event was not held at my house, but rather at a hotel in Bridgehampton,” Ackman wrote, referencing the X handle for Kirk’s campus activism organization, Turning Point USA.
“As I previously explained, I did cover the cost of the event, ie, travel, food, and lodging for the participants.”
He stressed the gathering was “not a secret event and no one signed an NDA.”
“Everyone including the Turning Point representatives who attended are totally free to share whatever they want about what took place and what was discussed. This was not a ‘Chatham House rules’ event.”
Ackman said some participants had already spoken out and urged others to do the same, while acknowledging “I understand why some may not want to do so because of the fear of getting attacked by the mob who assume that something untoward took place.”
He also revealed Kirk’s own complaints about pressure from pro-Israel supporters.
“He complained to me that some pro-Israel advocates view any criticism of Israel as antisemitic and we both agreed that this is wrong,” Ackman, a staunch defender of Israel whose wife is a native of the country, wrote.
Ackman also denied claims made in a report by the left-wing news site Grayzone that he and other pro-Israel influencers pressured Kirk to disinvite former Fox News prime time host Tucker Carlson, who has emerged as a critic of Israel, to an event.
“I did not complain to Charlie about @TuckerCarlson’s criticism of me at TPUSA. I did ask him why he thought Tucker attacked me and he told me that he did not know why,” Ackman wrote.
“He told me that he thought my statement in response to Tucker was ‘a great one.’”
Owens earlier this week claimed Kirk was pressured by donors and subjected to an “intervention” involving Ackman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She cited a Grayzone report alleging Kirk was berated over his stance on Israel.
Ackman rejected that account outright.
“At no time have I ever threatened Charlie Kirk, Turning Point or anyone associated with him,” he wrote in a separate X post on Tuesday.
“I have never blackmailed anyone, let alone Charlie Kirk.”
Kirk, 31, was gunned down last Wednesday at a Turning Point USA event in Utah. Police arrested Tyler Robinson, 22, but have not tied the killing to Kirk’s views about the Middle East.
A recent Anti-Defamation League report counted more than 10,000 posts on X linking Israel to his death without evidence.
“Lastly, I totally understand the shock and distress that all who knew or followed @charliekirk11 are feeling after his untimely and tragic death,” Ackman wrote in his most recent post.
“But let’s not let those emotions cause us to construct conspiracy theories that can cause innocent people serious and potentially deadly harm. One tragic and devastating loss is enough.”
Owens issued a statement in response which read: “The New York Post is a propagandist outfit for Israel which has employed, at various times, literal IDF soldiers for writers.”
“I have no interest in participating in another predictable, radical-Zionist hit piece, which will achieve zero real-world impact. The current awakening of the masses as to the occupied state of our nation is inexorable,” Owens said.
The Post has sought comment from Carlson, TPUSA and the Israeli government.
