Former Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee says the effort to remove Ohio billionaire Les Wexner's name from university buildings is "cancel culture."
Gee went to bat for Wexner, who he calls a friend and a wonderful philanthropist. Gee's time as president overlapped with Wexner's time as chair of the OSU Board of Trustees.
Gee spoke about OSU's biggest donor and Ohio's richest man on All Sides with Amy Juravich Wednesday morning. Gee is now a consultant for current Ohio State President Ted Carter at the university's new Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society.
Wexner is being called before Congress in February to testify about his close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gee said he thinks Wexner had no idea about what Epstein was doing.
Gee made the comments after being asked about an effort to remove Wexner's name from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center's football complex. The university denied a request to remove Wexner's name on the basis that there was a lack of information for the naming committee to review.
The request, made by survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of former OSU team doctor Richard Strauss decades ago, contained accusations of misconduct related to Strauss and not Wexner.
"This is the cancel culture gone wild. If you believe that there was even some scintilla of an issue, sometimes people just want to go right to DEFCON two. That's silly," Gee said.
Wexner and Gee also face the threat of subpoenas to testify in the ongoing lawsuit against Ohio State by Strauss abuse survivors. Ohio State intervened, arguing that Wexner shouldn't have to testify.
Strauss' time at Ohio State, where he is alleged to have sexually assaulted dozens of students, overlapped with Gee's time as president and Wexner's time as the chair of the university's Board of Trustees.
When asked by Juravich, Gee declined to comment on the Strauss case.
"This is a legal matter, of which I am not free to talk about, so I just will not answer that question," Gee said.
Only four months ago, Gee spoke to WOSU frankly, confirming he expected to be deposed in the case. Gee said in September he can't remember much of anything from that time.
Gee told Juravich on Wednesday he is known for not holding his tongue on controversial issues.
"I am well-known for getting ahead of my skis. I'm well-known for having the quip. I'm the only guy who's ever been featured for some of the stupid things I've said on the front page of the New York Times," Gee said.
Steve Snyder-Hill, one of the Strauss survivors suing the university, criticized Gee's "cancel culture" comment using an expletive. Snyder-Hill said the group just wants Wexner to say, under oath, that he had no knowledge about Strauss' criminal actions.
"We're not trying to cancel Les Wexner from anything. Unfortunately for Mr. Wexner right now, he's under a lot of scrutiny with the U.S. government," Snyder-Hill said.
He questioned why it is such a big ask for Ohio State, Wexner and Gee to testify in the case.
Juravich asked Gee whether Wexner really didn't know what Epstein did.
"I think that Mr. Wexner's made that very clear. But you know, people are going to get their own scenarios going on and whatever they want to. I think people are getting too much exercise jumping to conclusions, rather than being really fact-based on any of these kinds of things," Gee said.
Gee said he texted Wexner before he made his trip to Columbus in hopes of meeting up. Gee said Wexner is currently in Florida.
Wexner faces a congressional subpoena to be deposed about his relationship to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The billionaire, who is rarely seen in public, is scheduled to be on Capitol Hill on Feb. 18.
