New twists in the Epstein case as a ‘redacted’ photo of Michael Jackson emerges, prompting fans to chant defamatory slogans
The Epstein Files have been surrounded by an atmosphere of tension for quite some time, but right now, the anxiety surrounding these controversial documents is at its peak. On Friday, the United States Department of Justice released thousands of documents, including photographs and PDFs that provided a clearer understanding of the mindset of the disgraced financier and sex offender. It also revealed the social circles he interacted with; however, this did not necessarily apply to everyone shown in the photographs or mentioned in other document formats.
On Friday, when the US Department of Justice published photographs of individuals with Jeffrey Epstein, one of the individuals featured was the late singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist, Michael Jackson, who is sometimes referred to as the “King of Pop.” Two photographs included Jackson, one showing him with Jeffrey Epstein, where they were simply posing in front of a portrait, and another with Bill Clinton, Diana Ross, and three children whose faces were blacked out for redaction. Following the release of these two images, significant backlash occurred online as supporters and fans of Michael Jackson accused the DOJ of trying to mislead the public into believing that Jackson was somehow involved in Epstein’s wrongdoings. Many people on the internet were quick to point out that the image featuring the redacted faces of three children was actually of Michael’s own kids, Paris and Prince, and Diana’s kid, Evan and that pictures from the same event, a fundraiser attended by Bill Clinton, were available online for public viewing. These same individuals claimed that presenting the images in a way that suggested the DOJ was protecting the identities of the children unfairly tarnishes Jackson’s reputation, making him appear as a criminal on par with, if not lesser than, Epstein, which is wrong.
Another picture, which featured just Michael Jackson and Jeffrey Epstein, was also debunked by one of Jackson’s bodyguards who allegedly worked for him when he was still alive. Taking to the comments section of one of the posts on Instagram that revealed the details of the recently released Epstein photograph, Matt Fiddes clarified that the picture of Epstein and Jackson was one that Epstein took with him simply as a fan and nothing else and that their paths had crossed because Jackson was looking for properties to stay in Palm Beach to be “close to his friend Barry Gibb.” A part of his comment read:
“We were just viewing houses as Michael wanted to live on Palm Beech [sic] so he can be close to his friend Barry Gibb. We never even knew who Epstein was,’ he added. ‘He was not famous then. He, like the other house owners we viewed that week, wanted a picture with Michael.”
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