Fake footage of Epstein jail cell included in Justice Department documents

"JUST IN: Video posted on the DOJ website appears to show Jeffrey Epstein attempting suicide inside his jail cell with timestamps matching the night he was found dead," says text over a version of the 12-second video shared December 22, 2025 on X.

The post comes from "Johnny Midnight," an account that has repeatedly spread disinformation fact-checked by AFP.

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Screenshot from X taken December 24, 2025

Similar posts rocketed across X and other platforms. The tabloid news service TMZ shared a still from the clip alongside a similar claim. Conservative influencers including Benny Johnson also amplified it in since-deleted posts, according to reports (archived here).

The video (archived here) spread online after it was included in materials the Justice Department began releasing December 19 in response to a law passed by Congress mandating the disclosure of all documents related to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

But despite its inclusion in files concerning the late financier, the video is not authentic.

Reverse image searches surfaced a copy of the same footage posted to YouTube in October 2020, where the caption indicated that it was created using 3D graphic software and then enhanced using another tool (archived here).

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Screenshot from YouTube taken December 24, 2025

The file preceding the clip in the documents released by the Justice Department is a copy of a 2021 email to investigators that mentioned a video attachment and was sent by an internet user who said he had been "busting government pedophiles since 1987" (archived here).

"Came across a purported video of Epstein's suicide (leaked by anonymous source)," the sender wrote. "Is this real???"

AFP reached out to the sender, who identified himself as Unis Ali, via an email address attached to his conspiracy-laden website, which was also listed in the letter's signature.

In a December 28 response, Ali pointed to a new post on his site -- titled "Epstein is ALIVE!" -- in which he uploaded an unredacted version of the letter and claimed he received the video two weeks after Epstein's death from "some hacker I met on the dark web claiming to have hacked the feds to acquire it."

He said he passed it along to federal investigators "to ask it the video was real" and never received a response. 

Epstein's death has fueled countless conspiracy theories, including claims that he was murdered to prevent him from implicating high-profile figures.

In a 2023 report, the Justice Department's inspector general's office said footage from "where Epstein was housed was only available from one prison security camera due to a malfunction of MCC New York's Digital Video Recorder system," which did not show Epstein's cell door (archived here).

The report said Epstein had been found dead and New York City's chief medical examiner had determined that "Epstein's injuries were more consistent with, and indicative of, a suicide by hanging rather than a homicide by strangulation."

The report also included photos of the interior of Epstein's cell, revealing a brick pattern along the wall as well as other details that are not present in the fake video circulating online.

AFP has debunked other misinformation around Epstein here.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. In the United States, to speak with a trained listener, call 988.