On social media, “#Jeffrey Epstein documents unsealed” was recently trending for weeks. The country was shocked as highly profiled people were mentioned in the documents. Stephen Hawking, Prince Andrew, and President Clinton were amongst the celebrities named in the court documents, in addition to the hundreds of unreleased names that the public was unaware of before the documents were unsealed.
Jeffery Epstein first came to the media’s attention after his conviction in 2008 by a Florida state court for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. Epstein was also charged with accounts of sexual abuse, which included minors, some as young as 14 years of age. However, before his death by suicide in 2019, he pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking with underage girls.
Known for his infamous “Epstein Island,” where he constantly flew to with his associates to sexually abuse young girls and women, discussions of Epstein have increased ever since more people, especially Generation Z, have become newly interested in the case. Documentaries of Epstein have been made, and calls for justice for the abused minors have led to outraged people demanding the court release the names of the people mentioned in the documents rather than protecting them. While some names of people associated with Epstein have been released over the years, what most people seem to want to know is who committed the same crimes as Epstein on the island.
On January 4th, 2024, the first batch of unsealed court documents from a lawsuit involving Epstein were made public. The thousands of pages released are a part of the 2015 lawsuit against Epstein’s close friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, by one of his victims, Virginia Guiffre. The documents included Epstein’s business associates, accusers, and names of victims. Some names included in the documents were Donald Trump, Cameron Diaz, and Michael Jackson. While there were many other high profiled people mentioned in the documents, they were not all accused of any wrongdoing, but there were still many that took part in what Epstein did. Sophomore Nonyelum Osakwe comments on what she thinks of seeing celebrities on the list, saying, “Celebrities are always doing something weird, and I am not surprised, but I am disappointed. I am shocked that Stephen Hawking is on the list.”
Despite the multitude of celebrities named in the documents, a lot of the victim’s names were redacted due to them being minors.
There were also two Jane Does—107 and 110— that will have their identity not released until a future date. The internet has speculated who they could be, but until the time of their names to not be released is up, the public will not be provided with any information regarding the people.
The Jeffrey Epstein court case continues to be ongoing, and with the many documents that continue to be investigated, the public continues to be more intrigued day by day. The majority of the public continues to hope that the abused get the justice that they continue to fight everyday to achieve.
