Epstein files did not ‘expose’ Ellen DeGeneres as a cannibal; claim stems from AI-generated audio

After the Justice Department released millions of pages of documents linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, social media users touted supposed revelations in the files and accused famous people of depraved acts.

Former television host Ellen DeGeneres was one target.

"The Epstein files expose Ellen DeGeneres as Hollywood's ‘most prolific cannibal.’ She ate children's flesh," a Feb. 14 X post read. It had gained 12.5 million views as of late afternoon Feb. 16.

It was the latest in a string of baseless claims trying to connect DeGeneres to crimes involving children. PolitiFact found no files in the Justice Department’s Epstein Library that show evidence DeGeneres took part in Epstein’s criminal activities or engaged in cannibalism. The library comes with caveats; text in some documents is not searchable.

We traced this claim to The People’s Voice, a frequent source of misinformation. On Feb. 11, the People’s Voice released a video and an article that cited an "inside source." The video contained a supposed audio clip from a "whistleblower" who spoke about DeGeneres having a separate kitchen without cameras. The "whistleblower" also mentioned babies in refrigeration units.

Four analysts told PolitiFact the audio was likely generated with artificial intelligence. V.S. Subrahmanian, a Northwestern University computer science professor, and Marco Postiglione, a postdoctoral researcher who works with Subrahmanian, analyzed the audio clip using 83 deepfake detection algorithms, 63 of which found that the audio clip is more likely to be fake than real. 

Other signs also showed the audio is likely AI-generated, including a lack of verbal stumbles — which are typical in usual conversation — and "emotional breaks typical of genuine testimony," Subrahmanian and Postiglione found.

The analysts also found the speech sounded like "written prose" and not like it was delivered spontaneously. For example, the voice described DeGeneres watching people eat her dumplings "not hungrily, not nervously, but with that sociopathic calm."

Hafiz Malik, University of Michigan – Dearborn electrical and computer engineering professor, also analyzed the clip and said it was AI-generated. He pointed to the flatness of the speaker’s voice, and a stationary noise throughout the audio. "If you’re talking to somebody, noise does change, so you don’t see a fixed kind of pattern in noise in general," he said.

The article from The People’s Voice cited no information from the Epstein files pointing to correspondences from, to or about DeGeneres.

Searching "Ellen DeGeneres" in the Justice Department’s Epstein Library showed some news and feature story clippings mentioning her. We found no news reports detailing any connection between DeGeneres and Epstein.

New York Magazine’s Intelligencer compiled a list of prominent people who have been linked to Epstein, using information from Epstein’s black book, flight logs and Justice Department files. DeGeneres is not on the list. 

The claim that the Epstein files prove DeGeneres was a cannibal is baseless. We rate that Pants on Fire!

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.