Recently, TikToker Danya Sherman (@danya_sherman) found out that she is in the Epstein files. Her fiancé had been typing in the names of people he knew to see if anyone would show up in the files.
When he typed in Danya’s name, it showed up 11 times. At first, he thought it was someone else with the same name, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.
In 2018, when Danya was 20 years old, she was honored by Toyota with their Mother of Invention award. She was invited to speak at the Women in the World summit alongside powerhouses like Hillary Clinton, Jameela Jamil, Viola Davis, and Senator Lisa Murkowski.
Her parents flew out to New York for the occasion. They watched her speak on stage about her work to combat drink spiking. She left immediately after to go out to dinner with her parents.
After finding out that her name was in the Epstein files, Danya freaked out and struggled to process the information.
“I would like to clarify that I do not know Epstein,” said Danya.
“I have never met him. I am not affiliated with him. The only thing and the only reason that I’m in there is because my name was featured as an honoree at the Women in the World summit. And that was sent to him and circulated 11 times.”
One of the emails, from then-professor Lawrence Krauss at Arizona State University, told Epstein to “enjoy” as a response to the email list of the female speakers.
The whole situation was a reminder to Danya that predators are in every space we occupy, even in places we see as secure and safe, even at a conference that was supposed to be supporting and empowering women.
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In the comments section, several TikTok users pointed out that context is important when it comes to determining who is really guilty in the files.
Others shared how their own names appeared in the files.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, and it’s a good reminder that just being mentioned in the files doesn’t mean anything,” stated one user.
“The files have a lot of magazine articles, newspaper pages, ads, etc., so if even in any of those the person’s name pops up, and they weren’t actually in any emails or texts directly. That is why people really need to read information themselves when people name-drop to see if it was anything serious and not just filler,” chimed in another.
“Two of the facilities I was in as a foster kid were in there a few times. I found out while boiling in bed with a fever. I had the flu. Never met him, but had a really weird memory about a track meet in Flagstaff,” added someone else.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
