We reported on the release of two of the American hostages Judith and Natalie Raanan, who had been kidnapped by Hamas during the brutal attack on Israel on October 7.  

Hamas claimed that they released them because of the intercession of Qatar for "humanitarian reasons." But there's nothing humanitarian about killing women and children or holding them hostage. 

If that wasn't already more than enough drama for any family to have to deal with, an old voice from the past tried to enter the chat: former BLM activist Shaun King. 

King claimed that the released hostages were his "supporters" and even that they had "protested police violence." 

He thanked the Qataris and appeared to claim some credit for the release, "Dozens of us worked frantically behind the scenes to help make this possible."

Except there was a small problem with what King was saying. 

The family dropkicked King, asserting that Judith and Natalie "have no idea who [Shaun King] is. They heard about him and the post for the first time only after they were released." 

Here was a longer statement from the family: 

First and foremost, we 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. 

Natalie told us that this morning it 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.

Shaun King is trying to catch a ride on the great exposure that her kidnapping received all over the world and in the US in particular, and the most ridiculous thing is that Natalie and her mother Judith are very active in Rabbi Hecht's Jewish community in Chicago and in the Chabad house, and if Shaun King knew them or their family he would know that.

Then, the family later clarified that unbeknownst to them, a member of the family had reached out to King. 

Later, Natalie’s father, Uri, told The Daily Beast that her brother, Ben, had been in contact with King—but he still distanced the clan from the activist.

“We reached out to many people far and wide to bring Natalie and Judith to safety. We are not affiliated with Mr. King,” he said. “Ben, my son was talking with him without anybody in the family knowing about it until today. Our family in Israel posted this statement denying we knew him, before we learned about Ben talking to him. We have nothing further to say.”

They were likely reaching out to anyone they could if it could help their family members, and apparently, the brother thought King had "Palestinian contacts." 

King then published private messages with the brother and even claimed he'd recorded the conversations with him. 

King also indicated that he had recorded all conversations with Ben “for my own protection” though it’s not clear if Ben knew he was being taped.

As if the family hadn't been through enough already, now they have to deal with this drama? And this is pretty wild. It also looks like he made claims about knowing Natalie or her mother being his supporters that don't match up with what the family is saying. There is no evidence so far produced to indicate that he had anything to do with the release of the two women.