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Jonathan Kaye, the Moelis banker who was placed on leave after a video appeared to show him punching a woman at a Pride event earlier in June, has resigned.
The video, which seemed to show a man hitting another person in the face, went viral on X, gathering over 14 millions views on social media.
Kaye was a senior employee at Moelis, running its global business services investment banking team.
“Jonathan Kaye has resigned and is no longer with the firm,” a spokesperson for Moelis stated.
A spokesperson for Kaye claimed to Bloomberg that the banker was acting in self-defense, after having liquid thrown at him and sustaining a cut to his leg prior to the incident.
The Financial Times has reported that a small fight had broken out after Kaye approached four people with a Palestinian flag and said they were “on the wrong side,” during which the liquids were thrown.
However, this event was not captured in the viral footage, which only shows the punching incident.
“He could not identify any of these individuals and was left bloodied from the attack,” Kaye’s representative stated. “Given the sharp rise in anti-semitic incidents, any Jewish person in this situation would naturally feel threatened and feel the need to defend themselves and return safely to their family.”
The statement says Kaye has experienced a major fallout following the incident, including “countless death threats and a campaign of personal destruction,” which has been “traumatic and devastating.”
Following a formal complaint, The New York City Police Department confirmed last week it had opened an official investigation into Kaye about the assault.
Kaye’s spokesperson said he would cooperate with the authorities.
Moelis earlier placed Kaye on leave, stating: “We are aware that one of our employees was involved in a serious incident in Brooklyn on June 8. We take this matter very seriously, and this employee is on leave as we continue to conduct our investigation.”
HR Grapevine reported earlier in June that according to Moelis’ website, Kaye’s division became “a recognized global leader having advised on over 100 transactions across the sector” under his leadership.
However, as of Monday this week, Moelis appears to have removed his profile from their site
