Top financier said tweets about his daughter's death gave him a 'glimpse into the dark world of antisemitic Illuminati conspiracy theory'
August 14, 2019 12:24
Top financier Ben Goldsmith has spoken out about the antisemitic language used by online conspiracy theorists after the death of his daughter.
The father, who has been heartbroken since his 15-year-old daughter, Iris, was killed in an accident involving a quad bike, said he had seen “countless, appallingly upsetting tweets”.
Mr Goldsmith, 38, previously married to heiress Kate Rothschild, posted a series of messages on Twitter which went into detail about the abuse.
“The more I looked, the more I found,” he wrote adding that seeing the abuse had made him determined to “call these people out”.
He said reading the comments about the incident and family provide him “a glimpse into the dark world of antisemitic/‘Illuminati’ conspiracy theory: countless appallingly upsetting tweets about the death of my teenage daughter Iris.
“I’ve reported some of these but there are so many, and in any case they don’t break @Twitter rules apparently.”
A glimpse into the dark world of anti-Semitic/‘Illuminati’ conspiracy theory: countless appallingly upsetting tweets about the death of my teenage daughter Iris. I’ve reported some of these but there are so many, and in any case they don’t break @Twitter rules apparently. https://t.co/PzcOrVqAUe
— Ben Goldsmith (@BenGoldsmith) August 12, 2019
He added: “To be clear, I have not had any abuse directed at me personally. I happened to come across loads of conspiracy theory tweets about the whole thing.”
Iris was the financier’s first daughter with his former wife Kate Rothschild who are understood to have a joint fortune of over £300 million.
The former couple also have two sons, Frank and Isaac. Mr Goldsmith is the younger brother of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith and documentary-maker Jemima Khan.
Mr Goldsmith, who separated from Ms Rothschild in 2012, wrote an emotional message on Twitter pleading with God for his daughter to be returned to him shortly after her death.
He wrote: “Dear God, please can I have my beautiful, brilliant, kind little girl back, please God.
“And if not, please take extra special care of her. I love her so so much and I’m so proud of her. It hurts me so much I can’t describe.”
She was laid to rest in private funeral at St Mary’s Church in Barnes, south-west London, last month.
Her mother gave a moving eulogy in which she said the family have been torn apart by her death.
“I can’t possibly begin to explain the ocean of grief we find ourselves in or the feeling of being shattered into a thousand unfindable pieces," she said.
“And even harder than that would be to explain her, to really do her justice. She was simply spectacular, her light was brighter than any I’ve ever known. She was just magical, but there aren’t enough words, or I don’t know how to find them at least.”
