Fact Check: Did J.K. Rowling Invite Jeffrey Epstein to a Play?
Since this is a fact check for a pretty viral claim, I am intending for this post to be for a wider audience than my usual readers. For full disclosure, I never read Harry Potter beyond the third book, I’m not a Rowling fangirl, and I do not worship the air she breathes. I am just making this post because I’ve seen this blow up over the last couple of days, and it seems that very few people have bothered to check to see if any of it was true.
Anyway.
The latest round of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein - e-mails, FBI tips, etc. - were published a few days ago. Within them are e-mails showing that Epstein obtained tickets for the opening night showing of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre in New York City.
Because J.K. Rowling’s name appears on an invite image, people online are claiming that she personally invited him. The showing was in 2018, by which point Epstein was known as a pedophile and registered sex offender; due to this, accusations have been made that Rowling was in contact with Epstein and/or sympathized with him.
(Archive. This is one person of many making these claims.)
This is a very strong claim to make, and in short, it’s false. The records which have been used as “proof” of this claim do not actually back it up. Let’s start with the invite.
Let’s take a look at this invite. There are a few things that immediately stand out, such as the RSVP date (3rd April 2018) and the names at the top of the invitation: Sonia Freidman and Colin Callender (the show’s producers) and J.K. Rowling (the author). The invite also looks pretty generic, as though it was meant to be sent out en masse - so, not personalized.
Perhaps the most notable thing about the invite is that it’s the only item in its file. There are no names indicating who possessed it, no date that indicates when it was sent, and no other context. That leads me to believe that this is an image missing from a different file, perhaps a text message or e-mail chain.
When we look at communications between members of Epstein’s team regarding the show, there’s a mention of an attached invitation in an e-mail sent by a Lila Walker to Lesley Groff, his executive assistant.
There doesn’t seem to be much information about Lila Walker online, but judging from her e-mail signature, she almost definitely had a position at Peggy Siegal Company. This is a media marketing company owned by Peggy Siegal, an entertainment publicist in the film world. She seems to have connections to New York’s elite, and notably, is described in her Wikipedia article as hosting events which include film screenings.
It is very likely that the invite pictured above is the same one mentioned in the e-mail. If that is the case, it makes sense that it would have originally been sent to Siegal, due to her role as an entertainment publicist. There are no other invitations related to this show in the files.
In addition, when asked by a news outlet whether Epstein was on the invite list, Callender confirmed that he was not.
Let’s go on to how Epstein procured tickets.
On 16th April 2018, someone (probably Groff) e-mailed Siegal asking for “details for Peggy’s Harry Potter party” for Epstein’s schedule. The next day, another e-mail to his driver, Luciano Fontanilla, continues to refer to this as “Peggy Siegal’s party.” The party is mentioned to be at Cipriani’s, which could refer to one of several restaurants in New York City.
On 19th April, Siegal sent an e-mail mentioning that Lila Walker would send details (almost certainly including the invitation) and would also try to get tickets for Epstein. At this point, about two weeks had passed since the invite’s RSVP deadline of 3rd April. There are also mentions of e-mailing Callender.
E-mails sent between involved parties on 20th April show that Siegal asked Callender for a favor in getting a couple of additional seats for the dinner. However, she did not mention Epstein’s name to him. Dinner tickets were arranged by Callender’s assistant, Rhys Kimmitt.
Later exchanges showed that Epstein was mentioned to Kimmitt so he could give his name to event security. It was later confirmed that tickets were sent to Siegal’s office, and dropped off at Epstein’s house.
Let’s do a recap on the sequence of events.
16th/17th April: probably-Groff asks Siegal about details for a dinner party she’s hosting on the opening night of Cursed Child.
19th April: Siegal confirmed that Walker would send party details. Walker later sent an invitation attached to an e-mail. This is almost certainly the invitation people allege Rowling sent to Epstein.
20th April: Siegal asked Callender for extra accommodations and he obliged. It is unlikely that Callender was ever aware of Epstein’s involvement. Tickets were delivered to Siegal’s office, and later, to Epstein’s house.
Bonus: a couple of days later, more e-mail exchanges revealed that Epstein had only been provided with one dinner ticket, while the other was for the show. In addition, his name was not left with security, so he was unable to attend the dinner party. This resulted in someone, probably Siegal, raging at Kimmitt.
I do want to note that there are e-mails between Groff and Epstein in June 2019 suggesting he take someone named Anna to a showing of Cursed Child. However, tickets were this time sent by a Jonathan through Ticketmaster, implying that these were purchased.
Other Accusations
After the allegations I mentioned above, people speculated that Rowling had previously been in contact with Epstein. There is nothing in the documents which indicates this, but that hasn’t stopped people from combing through them as well as her social media to find anything that fits this theory. This has led to people labelling her a pedophile, indirectly or otherwise, so I think it’s important to cover as well.
In this regard, the biggest accusation circulating is that Rowling must have been in contact with Epstein because of a signature someone with their name redacted used when e-mailing him once. It’s been claimed that, because this person used “Jx” when signing off, which Rowling occasionally used on social media, that this must be her.
The posts from her account in this graphic are real, but it should also be noted that she switched between using that and “Jo x”, and that she only used these signatures a total of five times. The document that “Jx” appears in is also real, but consists of one short back and forth, and is the only time this signature is ever used in any of the documents.
For what it’s worth, Rowling has also said that neither she nor anyone on her team ever had contact with Epstein.
Speculation that she was in contact with him because of a signature which she rarely used, when there is no other indication in the e-mails that it might be her, is just that: speculation. There is no definitive proof that supports the claims being made, and therefore, one should certainly not come to the conclusion that she was a pedophile based off of them.
In conclusion:
J.K. Rowling did not invite Jeffrey Epstein to a showing of Cursed Child. The invitation in question was most likely obtained by Peggy Siegal due to her being an entertainment publicist. Epstein’s name was not on the invite list.
It is highly unlikely that Rowling was ever in contact with Epstein for any other reason. There is no evidence that they communicated beyond pure speculation.
I know from personal experience that rumors with little to no basis can have devastating consequences for one’s life, even after they’re proven to be false. In some cases, these rumors can even constitute libel. It’s imperative to do thorough research before making claims, and to not make unsubstantiated ones. When in doubt, wait it out, and see what information later comes up.
Also the content of that "Jx" email chain sounds nothing like JKR. The grammar is sloppy, the writer uses the Americanism "airplane" which JKR being British would not use, and Epstein offers to purchase commercial plane tickets which would make no sense for someone as wealthy as JKR.