Dalai Lama denies any connection to Jeffrey Epstein after appearing in declassified files

The office of the Dalai Lama issued a categorical denial of any connection to Jeffrey Epstein on Sunday, following the appearance of the Tibetan spiritual leader's name in declassified U.S. documents related to the convicted financier.

The Dalai Lama's name appears between 154 and 169 times across the millions of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice and analyzed by multiple news organizations. However, the references are limited to emails and calendar entries from 2012 in which Epstein sought to coordinate meetings and attend events where the spiritual leader would be present.

"Some recent media reports and social media posts about the 'Epstein files' attempt to establish a relationship between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Epstein," the Dalai Lama's office stated in a statement posted on social media. "We can categorically confirm that His Holiness never met with Jeffrey Epstein, nor did he authorize anyone to meet or interact with him on his behalf."

According to the declassified documents, the mentions of the Dalai Lama were confined to logistical and generic matters. The documents included references to budgets for the Tibetan leader's accommodations, but contained no indication that any meeting between the two men took place.

Epstein, a financier convicted of sexual crimes, died in custody in 2019. The recent release of documents related to his case has prompted scrutiny of his contacts and attempted connections with various public figures.

The Dalai Lama, whose secular name is Tenzin Gyatso, is the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. His office's statement addressed what it characterized as attempts by media outlets and social media users to create a false association between the religious leader and Epstein based on the appearance of his name in the declassified files.