Fact Check: Did Oprah Winfrey visit Jeffrey Epstein's private island 11 times?

WASHINGTON, DC: As newly released Epstein-related files continue to fuel online speculation about celebrities and public figures, social media users have revived unsupported allegations that Oprah Winfrey repeatedly visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island 11 times and that students from her school were kidnapped. 

The reignited public scrutiny of high-profile figures intensified calls for greater transparency.

Claim: Oprah Winfrey visited Jeffrey Epstein private island 11 times

A recent post on X, which has received more than 1.2 million views, claims that Oprah Winfrey's private jet traveled to Jeffrey Epstein's private island 11 times. The post also alleged, "Oprah Winfrey's private jet was at Epstein Island 11 times... Whatever happened to all of the girls that got kidnapped from her school in Africa?"

This is not the first time these claims have circulated online. Winfrey has repeatedly faced false allegations about traveling to Epstein's private island. Earlier this year, an Instagram post featured a photo of Winfrey alongside a separate image of an airplane with the caption: "Oprah Winfrey's private jet was at Epstein's island 11 different times. What ever (sic) happened to all the girls that got kidnapped from her school in Africa?" The post received more than 800 likes within two days.

In December 2025, another X post claimed, "Oprah bring (sic) friends with Epstein is such an incredible shock. Do you think she knew what he was into?" The post included an image that appeared to show Winfrey posing with Epstein in vacation attire. The image subsequently spread across X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Fact Check: False

No evidence shows that Oprah Winfrey's private jet visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island, Little St James, 11 times. The island does not have a runway capable of accommodating private jets, and Winfrey's name does not appear in Epstein's flight logs or key court documents.

The image featured in the viral video is digitally manipulated. It originates from an authentic photograph of Epstein standing with Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, and has been repeatedly repurposed in debunked online claims.

Reverse image searches and keyword searches traced the original photo to the Justice Department's December release of Epstein-related records, where Epstein appears in the same outfit and setting alongside Branson.

The claim that students from Oprah's Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa were kidnapped is also unsupported. Although the school faced a widely reported staff abuse scandal in 2007 that Winfrey publicly addressed, no credible evidence or official reports indicate that students were victims of widespread trafficking or mass disappearances.

The original photograph of Epstein and Branson remains publicly available through the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files.