The impending launch of Hunter Biden’s tongue-in-cheekishly named $LAPTOP meme coin has spurred a response from Channel 5’s Andrew Callaghan, who says he had “nothing to do” with the crypto project.
But first, a bit of context: Biden and Callaghan have linked up for several widely aggregated interviews in the past, including, most recently, one with Nick Fuentes. Per Callaghan, he and Biden remain friends, though any association with crypto on his part was not intended.
“Channel 5 and I have nothing to do with Hunter Biden’s crypto coin,” Callaghan said in a statement shared to social media on Monday (Sept. 7). “We have not, do not, and never will advertise crypto. Hunter asked if he could use our mailing list whenever he launched a new product. We provided him a simple CSV sheet from our email list to help him expand his audience. As we have told our followers numerous times, we do not believe crypto is a legitimate investment. We wish Hunter the best. Shout out to the homie.”
In a follow-up comment, Callaghan added that emails from Biden’s team had not been distributed to public subscribers.
“We were able to get all info completely removed from [our] list before [the] blast was sent,” he said.
Complex has reached out to a Channel 5 rep for comment. This story may be updated. Following his initial IG statement, Callaghan later shared a lengthier statement to YouTube, seen below:
As Callaghan explained in the video, fans’ private data was not compromised. Instead, only email addresses that had previously opted in for news and updates when making a purchase on the Channel 5 store had been shared. Callaghan also said he had since spoken with Biden, who “apologized profusely” for the miscommunication.
“It’s my bad,” Callaghan, who again reiterated that he and Biden remain friends, said. “I should have asked more questions.”
In a video shared to his socials announcing the trollingly presented coin, Biden compiled an assortment of news clips of various laptop-obsessed figures, including Trump. $LAPTOP is said to be slated for a Sept. 9 rollout.
