Screenshots of fake court transcripts related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have flooded the internet in recent days, often falsely accusing celebrities of appearing on the list of Epstein’s former associates, employees and friends included in the unsealed papers.
Hundreds of documents as part of a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s alleged victims, on Wednesday were unsealed to the public. The suit was filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and Epstein’s former girlfriend, who in December 2021 was convicted of child sex trafficking in connection to her relationship with deceased financier Epstein.
The papers provided a lengthy list of names—90 in total—of former associates or friends of Epstein whose identities were previously redacted from the public. Many of those listed in the documents, however, have not been accused of any wrongdoing or were previously mentioned in legal proceedings. The documents that were unsealed were not in any way related to Epstein’s so-called “client list.”
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Plenty of celebrities or prominent names have also been falsely accused of appearing in the unsealed documents, due to fake court transcripts that have circulated online, many of which receiving tens of thousands of views. One fake transcript reviewed by Newsweek wrongly accused late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel of being mentioned during a court testimony related to Epstein—Kimmel was also falsely accused by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers of flying on Epstein’s private jet, an allegation that the TV host denied and threatened to bring legal action against Rodgers if repeated.
Another fake transcript that was repeatedly shared online falsely accused Stephen Hawking, the late theoretical physicist, of frequently visiting Epstein’s private island for “pleasure.” One post reviewed by Newsweek that included the made-up transcript had garnered 10.4 million views as of Friday afternoon.
Hawking, who died in 2018, was listed in the unsealed documents but was only included in a 2015 email that Epstein wrote, which proposed a reward to be paid to anyone who could debunk a baseless claim about the physicist at the time, as reported by the Associated Press.
Another post containing a false transcript, which as of Friday afternoon had reached 3.1 million views, wrongly named twin brothers Brian and Ed Krassenstein, both political commentators and social media personalities. In a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday, Brian Krassenstein wrote that he and his brother “are not on [the] Epstein list. I can confirm this 100%.”
Newsweek reached out to Ed Krassenstein via email for comment on Friday.
Some high-profile names that did appear in the papers include former President Donald Trump, who was a known friend of Epstein’s but has not been accused of committing any criminal acts related to the case. Trump was also scarcely mentioned in the unsealed documents and was never connected to any illicit behavior.
Former President Bill Clinton was also named in the documents, but previously said that he knew “nothing” about the sex trafficking charges brought against Epstein. Angel Urena, spokesperson for the former president, told Newsweek on Wednesday that “nothing has changed.”
Other prominent figures in the documents include Prince Andrew, who was accused of having sex with Giuffre when she was 17 years old. In 2021, the British royal denied knowing her, which led Giuffre to file a civil lawsuit against him. The suit was settled in 2022 for an undisclosed sum.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
