May 18, 2026
Receipts, rage, and reply guys
Garry Tan, the CEO of venture YC, accused me of unethical reporting
Commenters pounce as Garry Tan’s defense of a reporter sparks ethics war and snark
TLDR: Garry Tan praised Dion Lim and suggested she was targeted, but Radley Balko fired back, saying Tan’s story gets key facts wrong and unfairly hints at unethical collusion. In the comments, readers split between cheering Balko’s reporting and blasting Tan as manipulative, with meme jokes adding fuel to the drama.
The real action here wasn’t just Garry Tan praising TV reporter Dion Lim’s new book — it was the instant comment-section trial that followed after journalist Radley Balko pushed back and said Tan had badly twisted what happened. Tan’s post framed Lim as a fearless truth-teller covering attacks on Asian Americans and suggested powerful people tried to silence her. Balko’s response? Not so fast. He says Tan’s version wrongly paints him and former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s office as part of some shady plot against Lim, and he insists he’s setting the record straight.
The crowd had very strong feelings. One side was practically standing up and applauding, calling Balko’s piece “great reporting” and praising it as transparent, careful, and the kind of journalism that actually shows receipts. That same camp also threw in a political sting, saying hatred of progressives is warping people’s judgment. The other side was less interested in nuance and more interested in dragging Tan personally, with one commenter flatly saying it’s no surprise he comes off “power-hungry and manipulative.” Ouch.
And because no internet fight is complete without weird humor, the thread also delivered a little AI-age sarcasm: “just ask claude to add quick-silence-dissension to your project,” a joke that basically turned the whole mess into a startup feature request for shutting down criticism. Another commenter popped in with the chaotic mini-battle cry, “leave gstack alone!” In other words: part media ethics debate, part political food fight, part meme factory — and commenters clearly think the trust issue is the real scandal.
Key Points
- •The article challenges Garry Tan’s X post promoting Dion Lim’s book and says his account of the author’s reporting is inaccurate.
- •Tan’s post framed Dion Lim as a journalist who exposed anti-Asian crimes and faced retaliation tied to her coverage of Chesa Boudin.
- •The article says anti-Asian attacks were real but also argues that misinformation circulated about Boudin’s prosecution policies and crime statistics.
- •The author disputes Tan’s suggestion of unethical coordination with Boudin’s office and says they had no prior relationship with Kasie Lee.
- •According to the article, someone from Boudin’s office first contacted the author in May 2021, after which the author communicated with Kasie Lee regarding the story.