"Would NEVER make up any such thing": Shaun King shares receipts as Natalie and Judith Raanan deny affiliation with BLM activist

Author and activist Shaun King recently claimed that he worked "frantically behind the scenes" to help release two American hostages, Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan, who were reportedly kidnapped by Hamas. However, the hostages accused King of lying. After the duo's claims came to light, King began receiving backlash online.

King has now taken to Instagram to state that he has all the receipts, texts, and screenshots that prove he helped the duo.

After reportedly being kidnapped by Hamas, Judith Tai Raanan, 59, and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan returned to Israel late on Friday, October 20, as per BBC. Shaun King, 44, seemed to claim credit for the mother and daughter's safe return. He asserted on Instagram on Friday, October 20, that he had assisted in the women's freedom.

After the duo called Shaun King a liar, he shared an Instagram post and said:

"I am a respected husband, father, leader, grad student, and employee of multiple companies. I would NEVER make up any such thing. Doing so would throw my whole life away."

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Shaun King shares screenshots of conversations with Natalie Shoshana Raanan's brother as she and Judith accuse him of lying

Shaun King shares screenshots of conversations with Natalie Shoshana Raanan's brother (Image via Shaun King / Associated Press)

Shaun King recently found himself in hot water after he claimed that "dozens of us" labored to rescue the American hostages. On Friday, King uploaded a post on Instagram and wrote:

“Hamas has just freed the teenager Natalie Raanan and her mother. I’m grateful. As I said last week, Natalie and her family have been supporters of mine and protested police violence in America alongside us.”

According to a statement from the Raanan family, King, the civil rights activist, allegedly lied about helping to free the two women. They claimed that he did nothing to assist them in gaining freedom and as per Live Mint, they said:

"Our family does not and has not had anything to do with him, neither directly nor indirectly."

They went so far as to say that they had not heard of King before his comments on social media went viral.

After the mother-daughter duo called him a liar, he shared another post and stated that he had texts, DMs, and screenshots to prove his work.

"At the advice of my attorneys, I kept every text, DM, screenshot, and, according to state law, recorded all of my phone conversations. Thank God. My fear was that I would be framed by the American government. I also knew the Israeli government were master liars. Receipts came in handy nonetheless," he wrote.

He shared a screenshot of a statement posted by Ben Raanan, the 17-year-old's brother, who mentioned that he had in fact reached out to King for help to locate his sister.

"When this first happened, I reached out to activist Shaun King, as I knew he had many connections within the Palestinian government. While Shaun and I do have slight disagreements politically, we both agree that human life is the most sanctified value on this earth," Ben said.

As part of the receipts, King also shared screenshots of text exchanges between himself and Ben, in which the latter thanked the activist for his work as he said:

"You are a real hero, Shaun. Thank you for doing this. From the bottom of my heart."

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Judith and Natalie Raanan were reportedly abducted during the conflict between Israel and Hamas

Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie Raanan were allegedly captured from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7 during the conflict.

However, Israel declared on Friday, October 20, that they were safe and had been released from captivity. As per the NY Post, according to Hamas, the two were let go for "humanitarian reasons."

According to the Guardian, a statement by the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu's office, which was released on Friday, verified that Israeli security personnel met Natalie Raanan, and her mother Judith, upon their arrival in Egypt.

The Raanans were subsequently brought to an Israeli military base in the nation's center, where their family members were waiting for them, according to the PM's office, as reported by BBC.