• Ripple CTO admits staging early 2000s Black Sabbath fan Q&A.

• Only two real fan questions used during entire Sabbath session.

• Schwartz calls incident a personal failure, regrets lack of transparency.

In a recent revelation that has stirred conversations in both the tech and music communities, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz, admitted to staging parts of a fan Q&A session with Black Sabbath over two decades ago. The session, which was supposed to be a real and live communication between fans and the band, was not so transparent as it seemed to people.

Schwartz Reveals Faked Fan Event with Black Sabbath in Early 2000s

Schwartz said the event was held in the early 2000s and was supposed to help fans reach out to all members of Black Sabbath with real-time questions. But the interest of the people was mainly concentrated on one only, and this was Ozzy Osbourne. This was an issue, since the point was to make a band participate equally. In a bid to strike a balance and please all the stakeholders involved, Schwartz chose to screen the questions and answers.

First, Schwartz gave pre-written questions to the non-Ozzy members of the band. Then, he asked them to direct the questions to each other. As a result, the Q\&A looked like a natural conversation. Moreover, these questions were planned ahead with help from the band manager. This teamwork allowed Schwartz to hear and control the call smoothly. In the end, the responses appeared real, even though they were staged. The answers were copied and shown to fans as they were natural and spontaneous.

On X, he confessed that throughout the whole event only two or three actual questions of the fans were relayed. The band members and the managers were happy with the result and were happy that the event had gone well but Schwartz was not comfortable. Looking back, he would call it a “personal failure” because it was not as honest and transparent as he wanted it to be.

The confession has since sparked renewed debate about ethics in digital and mediated communication. It happened before Schwartz joined Ripple, but it has returned to serve as a reminder of the value of authenticity, particularly in a time where user trust depends more and more on open practices.

Ripple Faces Scrutiny as SEC Case Developments Unfold

The management of Ripple has also been under public scrutiny in the recent past due to unrelated reasons. The company CEO Brad Garlinghouse, declared that it was withdrawing its cross-appeal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is likely to do the same. The court rejected a request to lower Ripple’s $125 million penalty. The court affirmed the decision that the institutional sale of XRP by Ripple was the sale of securities.

David Schwartz now works on blockchain projects that promote transparency and decentralization. He follows clear ethical values in his current role. Schwartz’s recent confession about staging the past Q\&A shows how ethics must evolve with technology. Experts believe reflecting on past mistakes is an important part of leadership. This is especially true in blockchain, where trust and fairness matter. His story reminds us that honesty is key in digital systems.

The lesson to be learned from the confession made by Schwartz is to maintain a clear conscience under complicated and demanding circumstances.