The declassification of names in Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-lover and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, captured worldwide attention, shedding new details about people associated with the late mogul who was convicted of sex crimes.
However, the publication of the judicial documents in a declassified manner, with most of the names no longer redacted, also generated an ideal breeding ground for disinformation to spread on social networks which was later replicated worldwide.
For example, various media outlets decontextualized appearances on the misnamed “Epstein list,” which is not exactly a list of clients, travelers or partners but rather names that appear in a lawsuit related to the pedophile.
Likewise, people on social media published lists of celebrities who supposedly appear in court documents when they are not in the files.
Many major media outlets worldwide fell into the misinformation traps of the case without properly verifying who actually appears in Epstein’s documents.
Who is not in the Epstein documents?
Tom Hanks and Jimmy Kimmel are some of the celebrities mentioned in the media and social networks who supposedly appear in Epstein’s documents.
In Kimmel’s case, a day before the court records were released, NFL star and quarterback Aaron Rodgers joked that the host’s name would appear in the court records during an interview on The Pat McAfee Show from ESPN.
However, Kimmel’s name does not appear in the files related to Epstein in Giuffre’s lawsuit against Maxwell.
Although Kimmel’s name does not appear anywhere in the document, some users on social networks published an edited image falsely showing that the presenter was mentioned.
Jimmy Kimmel is a Pedophile
Pass it on 👉 pic.twitter.com/THrCvMNW60— 🇺🇸🇺🇸Josh Dunlap🇺🇲🇺🇲 ULTRA-MAGA (@JDunlap1974) January 4, 2024
Like Kimmel, Hanks was falsely accused of being on “Epstein’s list” after the files were declassified. Various media outlets and influencers, especially in Spanish, dedicated sensational headlines to the falsely accused celebrities.
For example, Mundo Deportivo, a Spanish newspaper dedicated to sports, accused Oprah and Hanks of restricting comments on their Instagram account after “appearing” in court files. However, the famous presenter is mentioned testimonially in some files and not even by the witnesses in the case. Hanks’ name does not appear directly.
Likewise, Semana magazine, one of Colombia’s most important and prestigious media outlets, falsely accused Oprah of appearing “as one of his clients” and dedicated several articles to the former presenter.
Who is mentioned in the documents but decontextualized by the media?
Since yesterday, many headlines have misrepresented that former US President Donald Trump was mentioned in documents related to Epstein, equating him with appearances in the archives of Prince Andrew or former President Bill Clinton.
Although the assertion is not false because Trump appears in the files, it is decontextualized. The Republican is only named twice compared to the dozens of times Clinton is mentioned, for example.
In one of the mentions, one of the witnesses present at Epstein’s parties said that Trump never visited the pedophile’s private Caribbean island or the homes in New York and New Mexico.
Likewise, in the other mention, Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein’s victims, said that on one occasion when they traveled to Atlantic City, the magnate suggested that he was going to call Trump when he landed and visit a casino together.
“Jeffrey said, great, we’ll call Trump, and we’ll go to... I don’t remember the name of the casino, but we’ll go to the casino,” said Sjoberg, who also denied that she had ever given the former Republican president a massage.
Instead, Sjoberg herself mentioned Clinton and stated that, on one occasion, Epstein said that the former Democratic president "liked them young, meaning girls.”
Another decontextualized appearance in the documents is that of the pope, mentioned on one occasion during the interrogations, but referring to a photo where Maxwell appears with the head of the Vatican. Following the mention, where no member of the Catholic Church was accused of acting improperly, many users began publishing conspiracy stories about the Vatican and its alleged involvement in Epstein’s child trafficking network, a claim that is not based on evidence.
Other celebrities made headlines due to appearing in the documents, but there is no evidence of improper behavior. For example, one of the prosecutors asks about actor Kevin Spacey, who had been part of Epstein’s travel list, but a witness claimed she never met him.
Another witness, who said she had sexual relations with French model scout Jean Luc Brunel, mentioned model Naomi Campbell to give context to one of her answers during interrogations.
Other artists, such as Leonardo Dicaprio or Bruce Willis, are also mentioned in the witness testimonies, but in a testimonial way, since the interviewees said that Epstein often mentioned names of artists, politicians or influential people with whom he maintained contacts.
😳👇Esta es la lista de famosos que aparecen en los documentos liberados del caso del pedófilo Jeffrey Epstein
‼️ Michael Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio o la modelo Naomi Campebll son algunas de las personalidades que tuvieron contacto con el pederastahttps://t.co/vVkXN4f5dF
— ABC.es (@abc_es) January 4, 2024
eps
Who really appears in the classified documents?
One of the most repeated names on the list is that of President Bill Clinton, who is mentioned several times by witnesses or prosecutors. However, that does not necessarily imply that the Democrat was involved in a crime or acted irregularly.
For example, one of the witnesses testified that she never met Clinton, gave him a massage, or saw him at any of Epstein’s residences. However, in previous statements, it was revealed that the Democratic president repeatedly traveled on the pedophile’s private plane.
Another famous person identified by a witness is the king of pop, Michael Jackson, who, according to testimony, visited Epstein’s mansion in Florida but never accepted a massage from the witness.
Likewise, the documents mention physicist Stephen Hawking in an email sent by Epstein to Maxwell, where he explains to his girlfriend that there is a rumor that the scientist participated in orgies with minors and that he needed help to deny it.
Although Hawking does appear in the documents, an edited image that the physicist liked to see naked dwarves also went viral on the Internet.
Hawking was into Dwarf Stars #JeffreyEpsteinList pic.twitter.com/tIr0i7uIVT
— Free Palestine (@ForFilastin) January 4, 2024
The court documents also bring the case of Prince Andrew to light, whom Virginia Giuffre accused of sexual abuse. The Duke of York has always denied the charges, although he reached a private agreement with Giuffre to close the case.
In the files, they also mention professors and academics. For example, the revelations say that Epstein allegedly forced a minor to have sex with Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who was his lawyer. However, in an interview with Fox News, Dershowitz stated that the accuser recanted and claimed that she misidentified the professor.
