Activist and author Shaun King is now at the center of another controversy after claiming to be working on ending the current war in the Middle East.
On Friday, he took to Instagram to post a photo of two Americans who were released after being held by the Gaza-based militant group, Hamas, and he took credit for their safe return.
“Hamas has just freed the teenager Natalie Raanan and her mother. I’m grateful. As I said last week, Natalie and her family have been supporters of mine and protested police violence in America alongside us,” King wrote. “I am also thankful for the Qatari government for helping to negotiate this. Dozens of us worked frantically behind the scenes to help make this possible. I spoke to Natalie’s family this afternoon, and they are anxiously awaiting more updates.”
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King went further in the comment section, claiming he was doing essential work to stop the Israel-Hamas war that erupted earlier this month.
“A ton of us are working behind the scenes on a ceasefire and a lot more than a ceasefire,” he wrote.
However, the mother-daughter duo, who were among 200 hostages captured by Hamas during its first attack on Israel on Oct. 7, said they’d never even heard of King until after they were informed of his social media posts. The women’s family even went as far as to call him a liar.
“First and foremost, we want to make it clear that he is lying! Our family does not and did not have anything to do with him, neither directly nor indirectly. Not to him and not to anything he claims to represent,” said the family, according to a report by TMZ.
“Natalie told us that this morning was the first time in her life that she came across Shaun King’s name and his posts, after she finally got a phone call after two horrific weeks in captivity in Gaza and was looking for what was written about her while she was away,” they added.
The posts sparked criticism from people on social media, with many calling King a “grifter,” which means “a person who engages in petty or small-scale swindling,” according to the Oxford Dictionary.
Over the years, King, who gained prominence during the Black Lives Matter movement, has made headlines because of allegations about his racial identity. King claimed to be biracial, and after several reports that the man listed on his birth certificate is white, along with his mother, the activist issued a statement saying that his real father is a light-skinned black man. He further claims the man listed on the document is not actually his biological father.
King has also been accused of pocketing money from fundraisers set up to help families affected by police violence. Earlier this year, he faced backlash for a fundraising campaign he launched to help with medical bills alongside photos of himself in a hospital bed.
Some critics also point out that King has a subscribers-only Instagram page.
“Can’t wait to see how he walks this one back. Grifter of grifts,” wrote one user on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
King has disputed the Raanan family’s claims, posting a string of “receipts” on his X account on Saturday.
“Ben, a longtime supporter of mine, was the American spokesperson for the family and first reached out to me for help on October 9th,” King wrote.
For my own protection, and according to state law, I recorded all of my phone conversations with the family as well.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 21, 2023
Here were my final texts with the family of Natalie Raanan.
They sent a live photo of the family and thanked me for my help. pic.twitter.com/tOIGrUZdf8
Still, that wasn’t enough to appease King’s critics.
“You got a pic off a TV. You are disgusting, trying to use a family in distress to fill your pockets,” one person wrote. “Someone reaching out to you for help is not the same thing as you brokering the release of his family members. Jesus. Get help,” another user replied.
