What’s for sure is that either the photographer is lying or #AshtonForbes is and I think most people would agree that Ashton is most likely the one lying based on body language and rhetoric.
I saw that the photographer made his X account private. He probably didn’t measure the kind of harassment he would be the target of by getting involved in this story and probably got scared when he realized the shockwaves his testimony created.
In the meantime, Ashton commented on the interview by misrepresenting the photographer’s statements. For instance, he said that the photographer agreed to 10K in exchange of an affidavit. If you watch the interview you’ll see that this is inaccurate. The photographer wasn’t looking to get paid and his commitment to sign an affidavit wasn’t agreed in exchange of a payment.
That’s just one of the many examples where Ashton is caught bending the facts to fit his narrative. He’s not a researcher but a propagandist.