The Dalai Lama in the Epstein Files
In late January 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice released a massive additional tranche of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein—over 3 million pages of emails, transcripts, attachments, and more. Within days, viral claims exploded across social media and some outlets, highlighting that the name "Dalai Lama" (or variants like "Dali Lama") appeared dozens—or even up to 169 times—in the files. Sensational headlines suggested possible meetings, island events, or deeper ties.The facts tell a different story. On February 8, 2026, the Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama issued a direct press statement addressing the reports:
“Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning the ‘Epstein files’ are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein. 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.”
Independent reviews of the publicly available documents (searchable on justice.gov/epstein) confirm all references are third-party, incidental, speculative, or repeated across email threads and attachments. There is no record of any direct communication, meeting, invitation acceptance, or involvement by His Holiness or his representatives. Epstein's name-dropping of prominent figures—including the Dalai Lama—was common in his efforts to gain social prestige, but the files show these attempts never succeeded.The Numbers from DOJ Records
The Numbers, Straight from the Source:
59 unique “Dalai Lama” mentions:
These are the same patterns seen with dozens of other high-profile names (Martin Luther King Jr. appears 352 times, Gandhi 69 times). A name-drop is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Key Mentions at a Glance
|
Date |
Context (verbatim excerpt or summary) |
Wrongdoing? |
|---|---|---|
|
June 14, 2013 |
Epstein forwards a HuffPost article link: “Dalai Lama: Women Better Leaders… Next Dalai Lama May Be Female” (pure media share) |
No |
|
October 21, 2012 |
Third-party email to Epstein declines a meeting; mentions interest in attending a public Dalai Lama teaching at Lincoln Center, NYC (widely misread as referring to Epstein’s island) |
No |
|
May 10, 2015 (9:42 AM) |
Epstein to Joi Ito: “fun dinner would be dali lama. woody alien chomsky?” (misspelled, casual hypothetical dinner idea) |
No |
|
May 10, 2015 (9:45 AM) |
Joi Ito to Epstein: “First step would be to meet Tenzin… He can get us the Dalai Lama.” (suggesting MIT intermediary Tenzin Priyadarshi; no follow-through) |
No |
|
May 10, 2015 (later) |
Duplicate repetitions in the same Epstein–Ito email thread (no new details) |
No |
|
July 7, 2015 (11:11 AM) |
Epstein to Tom Pritzker: “would you find it amusing to have dali lama meet woody alien…” (speculative social idea, misspelled) |
No |
|
July 7, 2015 (6:55 PM) |
Tom Pritzker to Epstein: “Have to go see Dalai Lama for early lunch.” (Pritzker’s unrelated personal schedule) |
No |
|
October 23, 2016 |
Deepak Chopra to Epstein: “I had questioned the Dalai Lama on this several times…” (Chopra sharing his own prior interactions) |
No |
|
November 27, 2017 (4:06 PM) |
Third party to Epstein: “Hope to see Dalai Lama there…” (vague hope about an event; unconfirmed) |
No |
|
November 27, 2017 (4:23 PM) |
Epstein to recipient: “you can tell the dali lama that you meeet tensini at MIT.” (uncorroborated boast, misspelled) |
No |
Other Notable Contexts and Locations
The Clear Conclusion
Epstein sought the prestige of high-profile names to enhance his image—he never achieved it with the Dalai Lama. The files document only failed attempts at access, not any real link. His Holiness remains untouched by Epstein’s world, as affirmed by his office and the absence of any contrary evidence in the documents.Search the official DOJ Epstein portal (justice.gov/epstein) yourself for “Dalai Lama” to verify. Context is everything—truth prevails over sensationalism.