Hidden Motives: Anatomy of a Smear Against Marc Gafni – Donna Zerner

On May 14, 2016, at Portland Story Theater, Donna Zerner performed a piece entitled “The Shadow Behind the Light.” In that performance, she attacked Marc Gafni, presenting a distorted story of their past relationship. What might have looked like personal storytelling was, in truth, a public smear.

For more than ten years, however, Marc Gafni chose silence in the face of repeated attacks. He refused to shame Donna Zerner or descend into mudslinging. Eventually, though, by turning her accusations into a staged theater act and presenting them as truth, Zerner crossed a line. At that point, Marc Gafni responded — with clarity, integrity, and love.

Donna Zerner and Marc Gafni – The Smear Campaign

Donna Zerner is closely associated with David Ingber and Chaya Lester, two of the main figures who promoted false complaints against Marc Gafni. In fact, she became a primary supporter of these attacks, and her theater piece was not an innocent act of expression. Instead, it was part of an organized campaign to spread misinformation and damage Marc Gafni’s life’s work.

As a result, Marc Gafni’s video response exposes these hidden motives and directly addresses the distortions in her story.

Marc Gafni Responds with Integrity

Marc Gafni has always stood for truth, love, and integrity. In this response series, he goes through Shadow Behind the Light step by step, showing how Donna Zerner weaponized her personal story to attack him. Importantly, he has always offered to meet in a mediated context to resolve any conflict in good faith, yet Donna Zerner has consistently ignored these invitations.

Therefore, his response is not only a defense of himself but also a stand for integrity, for his family, for colleagues, and for the evolution of love in public culture.

Chapters in the Response Video

  1. Who is Donna Zerner? – clarifying her real role and relationship.

  2. Weaponizing a Story – how she turned personal history into attack.

  3. False Claims – exposing distortions presented as truth.

  4. Disowning Her Power (Part 1) – refusing responsibility for choices.

  5. Domination & Submission (Part 2) – twisting intimacy into caricature.

  6. The Fainting Story – revealing the distortion behind her claim.

  7. Secrecy vs. Privacy – explaining the difference, clearing confusion.

  8. Self-Infantilizing – why describing herself as “in a trance” is false.

  9. Caricaturing Motives – how she misrepresented Marc’s intentions.

  10. False Complaints Part 1 – re-narrating events to fit a smear.

  11. False Complaints Part 2 – showing the network of smear players.

  12. False Complaints Part 3 – recycling old, disproven stories.

  13. False Complaints Part 4 (2006) – the deeper history behind the smear.

  14. Ulterior Motives – why demonization served her hidden agenda.

  15. Donna’s Hidden Motives – exposing what truly fueled her attacks.

  16. The Smoke & Fire Myth – debunking the logic of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Watch the full Marc Gafni response video here:

Why This Page Exists

Shadow Behind the Light was not an honest testimony. Instead, it was a public attack filled with distortions. Therefore, this page exists to set the record straight: Marc Gafni is answering lies with truth, attacks with love, and distortion with clarity.

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