The Guardian this week published screenshots that it says tie obscene Slack messages to University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker, alleging sexually explicit remarks about a Democratic Party strategist and a female student. The posts reportedly date back to 2020 and 2021 and came from a private Slack group of about 30 people. Acker’s attorney is pushing back hard, questioning whether the messages are real and challenging news outlets to prove their authenticity.
What The Guardian Found
The Guardian reports that it reviewed conversations from a Slack channel linked to an account using Acker’s name. The outlet says it cross-checked an email tied to that Slack account with a personal Gmail address and interviewed six members of the group who said they remembered seeing the messages when they originally appeared. According to the reporting, the posts include sexually explicit descriptions of both a Democratic strategist and a University of Michigan undergraduate.
Acker's Response And Legal Pushback
Acker’s lawyer, Ethan Holtz, has blasted the Slack screenshots as unreliable and potentially doctored. He told local reporters that the images are “highly suspicious” and show “obvious evidence of fabrication,” adding that Acker questions whether the screenshots are genuine, according to FOX 2 Detroit. Holtz also argued that certain details referenced in the alleged messages did not exist at the time they were supposedly written and characterized the release of the screenshots as a calculated move meant to sway convention delegates.
Background And Campus Tensions
Acker has been one of the most vocal critics on the U-M Board of Regents when it comes to pro-Palestinian encampments on campus, pressing for consequences for protesters. That stance has also made him a frequent target for demonstrators. In 2024, pro-Palestinian graffiti was spray-painted on the Southfield office of his law firm, an incident police investigated as a possible hate crime, according to the Associated Press. The current regents’ race has already been a pressure cooker inside the party, becoming a proxy battle in broader Democratic infighting, as reported by the Michigan Advance.
Political Stakes
The timing of the story is hard to ignore. The Guardian’s reporting landed in the runup to the Michigan Democratic convention, where delegates are set to pick nominees for two open Board of Regents seats on April 19, heightening the potential political fallout, according to FOX 2 Detroit. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who has endorsed Acker, told the station that “if these messages are true, then they are disgusting,” a blunt assessment that captures how quickly the allegations could reshape hallway chatter among delegates.
What Comes Next
Heading into the convention, questions about whether the Slack messages are authentic and why they surfaced now are likely to dominate the political conversation. The Guardian says it linked the Slack account to an email address connected to Acker’s personal Gmail and that multiple people in the group confirmed seeing the posts when they were first shared. Acker’s legal team continues to dispute those claims and to challenge the evidence as delegates and party leaders weigh how, or whether, to respond.
