Kathy Griffin Slams QAnon, MAGA Supporters Over Jeffrey Epstein Rumors

Comedian Kathy Griffin has hit out at the QAnon members and MAGA supporters who have repeatedly spread false allegations that she spent time on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s private Caribbean island, Little St. James.

Epstein’s private jet, which was used to transport guests to the island, was derisively nicknamed the “Lolita Express” following allegations that it was used to fly underage girls to some of the late financier’s properties.

Following Epstein’s death by apparent suicide in jail in 2019, lists have been shared on social media purporting to show the high-profile people who had visited the island, which is located east of Puerto Rico in the British Virgin Islands.

In recent years, Griffin’s name has been erroneously added to the mix of Epstein’s guests by social media users who have falsely targeted a number of celebrities as part of an apparent campaign to link them to Epstein’s crimes.

Last month, Griffin addressed the persistent claims on TikTok after a person on the platform wrote on one of her posts: “You proud of visiting Epstein island sicko.”

Sharing a video of herself looking exasperated, the comedian repeatedly shook her head as she pointed to the comment and said: “You guys, seriously?”

Griffin spoke up about the issue once again on Monday, when she shared a video on Instagram of herself praising social media personality Danesh, who goes by ThatDaneshGuy, for exposing the identities of those who have continued to push theories about her.

Taking aim at two specific right-wing groups, she wrote in her caption: “Please go to @thatdaneshguy’s IG to see the video he made BUSTING these QAnon/MAGA folks encouraging thousands of accounts to swarm me [with] threats of all kinds.”

QAnon is a conspiracy theory movement based on the predictions of an anonymous online account. MAGA—an acronym for Make America Great Again, the slogan used by Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign—has been used to describe devoted supporters of the former president.

Griffin is an outspoken Trump critic and faced backlash after posing with the severed head of a Trump effigy in 2017. She said that her decision to pose with the head damaged her career.

“I wish I was kidding but they actually think I was on Epstein f****** island,” Griffin said. “They don’t care about the real victims like Virginia [Giuffre] or the other women who have been so brave, speaking out against Epstein.

“They don’t care that there’s a video of [Donald] Trump WITH Epstein dancing at a party,” she added, before pointing out the numerous other celebrities who have been falsely linked to Epstein over the years.

“The Qs/MAGAs have a fake list that’s been circulating for years that says that I was at Epstein island that I am on a master flight log, which does not exist, and then I went there with Tom Hanks, Hillary Clinton, Oprah [Winfrey], and Jimmy Kimmel, and that we harvested baby parts and ate them.”

Griffin was included in a list of 124 purported island visitors—many of them celebrities—that was shared on social media back in 2020. Among the other names listed on the purported flight log were Beyoncé, Eminem, Chrissy Teigen, former President Barack Obama, Winfrey and Hanks.

However, a cross-reference of the screenshot list shared on social media with the actual flight logs released in the court record showed that 36 celebrities were named who had never set foot on the aircraft, including all of the above.

Despite this, the conspiracy theory has continued to float around alone. Part of the issue is that some names, such as famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz and former President Bill Clinton do show up on real flight logs.

“I wish I was kidding. I cannot say that enough. These people are very gory and violent,” Griffin said in her video, referring to the conspiracy theorists. “However, when @thatdaneshguy exposes them, they typically run back to their holes and just go private. But feel free to fight with them. I’ve had it with this crap. 5 1/2 years!”

In Danesh’s video, he singles out a woman, whose Instagram account appears to have since been renamed or deleted and whose TikTok account is currently locked, for floating the conspiracy theory about Griffin. He said that the woman’s followers have been “leaving very harmful comments. Some of them are actually leaving threats because of your videos because of the BS you’re putting on Tik Tok.”

“I’ve used my account to actually hold [pedophiles] accountable, to actually identify them, to actually expose them with evidence,” he went on. “You are doing no such thing. You are providing cover. You provide cover for everyone who actually was on Epstein’s island by making s*** up about someone else.

“Yeah, she’s a celebrity but she’s a human being. You can’t go around falsely accusing people of doing such a horrible and heinous thing.”

Danesh described Griffin as his friend and said that she asked him to look into the continued harassment she had faced on social media. The social media personality said that he has since been identifying each person who leaves a “nasty comment” on her posts.

Epstein’s personal pilot gave testimony during the New York City trial of Epstein’s former partner Ghislaine Maxwell. For nearly 30 years, Larry Visoski piloted the Boeing 727 that reportedly hosted a spate of famous names, including Britain’s Prince Andrew and numerous United States senators.

Visoski testified that he never saw evidence of sexual activity on planes as he flew Epstein and his high-profile passengers aboard the two jets he piloted for roughly 1,000 trips between 1991 and 2019.

He told the court that he recalled Prince Andrew being a passenger on the jet as well as actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker. He also remembered violinist Itzhak Perlman and named tech mogul Bill Gates, as well as politician and former astronaut John Glenn.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was also named by Visoski as being a passenger on the “Lolita Express.”

There is no suggestion that those who flew on the jet were involved in any illegal activity.

During Maxwell’s trial, the pilot was asked if he ever saw sex acts with underage females, to which he replied: “Absolutely not.”

In June 2022, Maxwell received a 20-year jail sentence for trafficking girls for Epstein to abuse.

Virginia Giuffre alleged that she was abused by Prince Andrew and claimed that Maxwell flew her around the world when she was 17 and 18 for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state. Prince Andrew has denied all of the claims made against him.

Newsweek previously reported that records show Trump boarded Epstein’s plane seven times, though no evidence of wrongdoing has been presented.

Over the years, Trump has distanced himself from Epstein. After Epstein’s 2019 arrest, the then-president said he only knew Epstein because “everybody in Palm Beach” did.

“I had a falling out with him. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you,” he said. But earlier on, he offered more complimentary words toward his former friend.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”