On Peter Attia & Kevin Spacey
If you’re at this article, there is a very high degree of likelihood that Peter Attia, or perhaps Kevin Spacey, is what brought you here. It is what has me here as well, I was a follower of Attia’s the second I was driving through the Rocky Mountains years ago and googled “longevity podcasts” and heard Attia. Yes, I would like to live a long life that is blessed with physical health and personal improvement. Even more, and where Attia and I are minimally connected, I would also like to live a peaceful life in my head — and calm my mind in the most stressful psychological period in human existence. This is where I latched on, because listening to Attia’s ‘The Drive’ was like looking in a mirror. I saw an obsessive person who highly likely became so due to trauma during childhood (at least I had said issue and I felt like I could see it in him). I saw someone who wanted to grow as a person, to get a hold of their childlike, subconscious voice to calm their mind and, in turn, be a better partner, father, friend, and leader. This was my exact quest and thus I was hooked on both Attia’s podcast and on observing his personal growth— to the point where I started having the same mental health experts Attia had on my podcast, and eventually the same therapist, a wonderful person who has dedicated his life to helping others, Terry Real.
All to set the background to the here and now, and the controversy that has ensued following this post on multiple social media platforms by Peter. What Attia did at a personal level is quite understandable — he defended a friend who he believes to have been falsely accused of sexual misconduct and assault, in some cases against minors. Which also understandably, has drawn a tremendous amount of public attention and ire. I have been familiar with the case albeit minimally, and simply read the Wikipedia page on it to catch up for this article.
So why the controversy and why am I writing? I’m writing mostly because when I googled this topic despite thousands of online comments I have not seen a single article on it. And for better or worse people will share there opinions; these are simply mine.
First, and most importantly, I think it is critical to note that you, I, Peter Attia nor the jury or justice system know the absolute truth here. The only people that do are Kevin Spacey and the 16 people who have accused him of sexual misconduct. This is where I get troubled with the Attia post — his confusion of “findings” with “facts.” The belief system that because Kevin is a friend, Attia must know the absolute truth, is not just evident by the post, but by the fact that the post still exists. It should not, because again Attia does not know the truth here. He can believe he is 99.9% sure of it, but he can not know it. And just as much as he has free will to post his belief in Spacey, others have the same free will to attack. And they have. I think the one that stood out to me the most was the following courageous one:
As a long-time subscriber to The Drive and a survivor of sexual assault, l'm so deeply disappointed to see this, Peter, especially from someone who continually says, "Absence of evidence doesn't equal evidence of absence." The burden of proof in criminal sexual assault cases is incredibly high, and as we all know, most survivors of SA don’t have videos. The fact that a jury acquitted him doesn't mean that he wasn't guilty of the charges- which he tried to blame on being gay and being" a flirt." I'd love to see you interview an expert in sexual assault and historical sexual assault litigation, and speak to the harm this does to assault survivors.
There are, quite literally, thousands of more attacks against the post. Some are outrageous — claiming Attia can’t relate to the victims but only Spacey because Attia has had an easy life. Which brings me to point 2.
Second, no one on this planet has had an easy life. For sure, some have been born in circumstances better than most — but we all have and will suffer. As mind-blowingly wrong I believe it was for Peter Attia to use his public figure and influence to state something he does not know in such an emotionally and psychologically charged case as a fact, I find the attacks on Attia often ad hominem and simply self-medicating by some who can’t just stand others being in the limelight. When my personal brand took off slightly (I am 1/100000th as recognizable as Attia or Spacey), I saw both the fawning compliments and wicked attacks increase dramatically. I remember reading an article about a documentary called “Hitmakers” which postulated if you have any kind of public presence, roughly 10% will overly deify you, and 10% absolutely despise you — through nothing you have done. I see this 10% on both sides with this controversy. Attia suffers just like the rest of us, and as wrong as this post is to me, I can assure you he is suffering more than 99% of those who have attacked it, with the exclusion being those who have been sexually assaulted who were triggered by his wrongful conviction that Spacey must be innocent. I think as humans we have largely lost the ability to be gentle on each other once we gained the ability to attack from any corner of the internet with vileness and anonymity, I find it important to note that Attia likely isn’t being gentle on himself right now.
I mentioned earlier I have enjoyed watching Attia’s personal growth. If he can overcome his demons, which manifest in ways so similar to mine, my mind takes comfort in knowing I can too. Which is why I am writing because I am surprised by the post still being right where it is. On Attia drawing a line of painful obstinance that is hurting others — be they right or wrong because again none of us know.
Again, Peter Attia has free will. He doesn’t have to do a thing about that post. But I wish, deeply, he would take the posts down whenever he put them on social media. It’s not his public battle to fight. He can be a loyal friend to whomever he wants, and I respect that. But what he can’t do is claim to know universal facts of which he was not a part of. His entire podcast and book have been devoted to the notion that what we thinks as facts change — and the only good science there is, is science that in amenable to changing its position. I agree with that approach, and I am baffled that his post on Spacey remains — and remains the result in an insistence on a truth that cannot be known.
We are our own griefs. We are our own happinesses. We are our own remedies.
Please note this is my personal blog and does not represent or express the views of my firm or anyone at our firm. If you are curious about what we do, which is absolutely obsess over all things admissions and higher education, you can find us here: