Dharamsala: The office of the Dalai Lama on Sunday issued a strong denial, stating that the Tibetan spiritual leader has never met convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, rebutting attempts to link him to the convicted sex offender via recently unsealed US files, reports said.
The clarification followed a February 5 report by China’s state-run China Global Television Network (CGTN), which claimed the Dalai Lama’s name surfaced 169 times in over three million Epstein documents, photos, and videos released last month by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). CGTN highlighted a redacted email where an unknown sender told Epstein they considered attending an island event with the Dalai Lama but could skip it.
An AFP search of the files found the Dalai Lama’s name was mentioned more than 150 times with no mention of him meeting or interacting with Epstein. The mere mention of someone’s name in the Epstein files does not in itself imply any wrongdoing by that person.
“Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning the “Epstein files” are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein,” the leader’s office said in a statement posted on X.
“We can unequivocally confirm that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf,” it added.
Reports said the email mentioned by CGTN and seen by AFP was sent by a person whose name is redacted, in which they write to Epstein: “About the event I told u almost a month ago on the island that the Dalai Lama is coming and I want to go there to see him. But I can skip this event if u need my help today.”
