Let’s ask the question nobody in the media seems willing to. Because it’s not just that Wesley LePatner was killed in a mass shooting at 345 Park Avenue. It’s that Wesley LePatner was a CEO — and not one major news outlet is calling her that. Instead, they’re referring to her as a “high-ranking executive” or “real estate executive” at Blackstone. But she was CEO of Blackstone’s $70 billion real estate investment trust (BREIT). That’s not a side project. That’s not middle management. That’s top of the top — a CEO in her own right, running one of the most powerful financial vehicles in the country. So why the verbal gymnastics? Why are they downplaying her title when her LinkedIn, official Blackstone bios, and financial records all state it clearly? When a man is murdered in a high-profile shooting, the headlines scream “CEO slain” or “Industry leader targeted.” But when a woman — especially one at the helm of one of Blackstone’s most valuable divisions — is gunned down in broad daylight in a Manhattan skyscraper, the language suddenly gets vague. Softened. Diminished. Is it because she was a woman? Is it because calling her a “CEO” would make the shooting sound too targeted? Too deliberate? Too threatening to the myth that this was just another random act of gun violence? Or maybe — just maybe — it’s because acknowledging her as a CEO would raise the stakes too high. It would force the public to ask who would want to kill a Blackstone CEO, and why. It would point the spotlight away from “mental illness” and “random tragedy” narratives, and toward something bigger. More uncomfortable. More systemic. This isn’t just about semantics — it’s about control. Control of the narrative. Control of what you think this was. And more importantly, what you don’t question. Ask yourself: Why are they erasing her title? And what else are they not telling us?
