TECH NEWS – The head of Build A Rocket Boy (BARB) is considering legal action, and the company’s co-CEO denies the allegations contained in the Epstein files.
Leslie Benzies, former CEO of Rockstar North and current co-CEO of Build A Rocket Boy (BARB), has denied any connection to billionaire pedophile and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement to Kotaku, Benzies said the allegations are false. His response came a few days after Mark Gerhard, BARB’s co-chairman, sent an official cease-and-desist-style warning to a YouTuber named Cyber Boi on the MindsEye Discord server, just minutes after Cyber Boi posted a video noting that Benzies’ name appeared in the Epstein files. (We covered this over the weekend.)
It’s unclear whether Gerhard’s warning was tied to Cyber Boi’s Epstein-related video or something else, but the Discord message surfaced within minutes of the upload. The “video ping” announcing the upload appeared on Cyber Boi’s Discord at 8:44 a.m. Eastern Time on January 31, and Gerhard’s message followed at 9:02 a.m. the same day – just 18 minutes later. The video has since been removed. The timing may have been coincidental, because Gerhard’s message focuses on an alleged leak of BARB’s confidential information rather than the Epstein files.
“It is profoundly disappointing to learn that certain BARB employees continue to leak confidential information to you, thereby betraying their colleagues, our studio, and the broader community we serve. This letter formally demands that you cease and desist all activities related to receiving, disseminating, or otherwise utilizing any confidential information from BARB, as well as any further involvement in media manipulation, espionage, sabotage, or interference targeting our organization. Failure to comply will result in escalated legal action. Rest assured that you and your associates involved in this media manipulation cabal will soon be served with legal papers, as BARB proceeds with complaints alleging criminal espionage, sabotage, and interference. You are all in very serious trouble,” Gerhard wrote.
Gerhard’s accusations of media manipulation, espionage, sabotage, and interference echo a previous incident last May, when he claimed coordinated efforts were underway to discredit the game and the studio in order to prevent MindsEye from launching. Some interpreted those remarks as implying Rockstar was financing the alleged sabotage, though Gerhard did not explicitly name Rockstar in that context. Rockstar did not respond to the claims. Benzies later made similar allegations.
One point is undeniable: Benzies is mentioned in the Epstein files, and anyone can search for the reference on the U.S. Department of Justice website.
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