Fortnite Debunks Wild Jeffrey Epstein Conspiracy Theory Tied To Battle Royale Game

 
Jeffrey Epstein in The Monsters documentary

Screenshot via The New York Post

Convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein was not a Fortnite player, and he is not alive playing video games despite social media chatter on Friday that suggested otherwise.

Online chatter about Epstein strangely turned to Fortnite stats on Friday after an account was linked to him — despite there being no actual connection in reality.

Epstein’s YouTube handle, littlestjeff1, was revealed through the Epstein files being released by the Department of Justice, and people were quick to notice that the exact same name was being used on the Battle Royale game Fortnite. The account was even active after Epstein’s death in 2019. That fact, plus an AI-generated image of Epstein supposedly in Israel, was enough to get conspiracy theorists arguing that the late billionaire was somehow still alive.

Epstein, however, remains dead and the makers behind Fortnite have taken to X to clear up any confusion about the billionaire’s rumored gaming history. According to the company, a user changed their name in the game to Epstein’s handle. The user using Epstein’s YouTube handle was originally using a “totally unrelated” name in the game.

“Hey Official Fortnite here – this was a ruse by a Fortnite player. A few days ago, an existing Fortnite account owner changed their username from something totally unrelated to littlestjeff1, following the revelation of littlestjeff1 as a name on YouTube. These Fortnite trackers only display your current name, not any prior changes to it,” a post from an account for Fortnite reads.

They also said they have no history of Epstein’s email address being used to play their game.

“We have no record of the subject’s email addresses referenced in the public document existing in the Epic account system,” the statement reads. “Since the public document releases, people have created Fortnite accounts with similar-looking email addresses and user names.”

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Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.