Comedian Jim Gaffigan stunned the 2024 Golden Globes audience on Sunday with a shock joke about pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The identities of dozens of well-known figures linked to Epstein were revealed in court papers unsealed in the US last week – the files are part of a defamation case brought against Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in jail for sex trafficking underage girls to him.
Actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz and Bruce Willis are in there along with model Naomi Campbell – prompting DiCaprio, Diaz and Blanchett to deny any involvement with Epstein.
Epstein was a name-dropper, Johanna Sjoberg claimed in evidence and was clear that she had never met them.
Gaffigan, who was presenting an award at the glitzy ceremony, strolled onto stage and said: ‘This is so exciting for me. The Golden Globes – I can’t even believe I’m in the entertainment industry. I can’t.
Comedian Jim Gaffigan stunned the 2024 Golden Globes audience on Sunday with a shock joke about pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
The identities of dozens of well-known figures linked to Epstein (pictured) were revealed in court papers unsealed in the US last week – the files are part of a defamation case brought against Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in jail for sex trafficking
‘You know, it’s so unlikely. I’m from a small town in Indiana. I’m not a pedophile. I don’t know if that’s a new category here, but…’ as the shocked celebrity audience awkwardly laughed.
High-profile people such as Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Kevin Spacey and Stephen Hawking were all included in evidence filings.
Some of the people named were associates, friends or victims of Epstein. But the vast majority were named in evidence by witnesses who said they had no links to the paedophile at all – or had not seen them at his many homes.
‘Cameron never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor was she ever in the same place as him or had any association with him whatsoever,’ Diaz’s rep said in a statement.
They added: ‘Regardless of the fact he may or may not have mentioned her name or implied that he knew her.’
The files are part of a defamation case brought against Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in jail for sex trafficking underage girls to him.
She was sued by Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York three times in 2001 when she was 17 – claims the duke vehemently denies.
One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Sjoberg, denied ever meeting Leo, Cate, or Bruce Willis during her testimony.
Gaffigan said: ‘You know, it’s so unlikely. I’m from a small town in Indiana. I’m not a pedophile. I don’t know if that’s a new category here, but…’ as the shocked celebrity audience awkwardly laughed
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, aged 17, now known as Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell at Ghislaine Maxwell’s townhouse in London. The Duke of York denies ever meeting Ms Giuffre
She said Epstein ‘would be on the phone a lot at that time, and one time he said, “Oh, that was Leonardo [DiCaprio], or, that was Cate Blanchett, or Bruce Willis.” That kind of thing.’
She was later asked: ‘Did you meet Cameron Diaz?’ to which she replied: ‘No.’
The identities of more than 170 people are now set to be made public following a US judge’s order last month, with the first tranche of documents released last week.