Just short of a month after US president Donald Trump signed the “Epstein Files Transparency Act” to release documents related to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published the files on Friday, and social media users have turned the appearance of one famous face into a bizarre viral meme.
Winnie the Pooh.
The beloved children’s character was seen posing for a photo with Epstein in one of the images made available this week, prompting people to jokingly despair that “it’s over” due to the fictional bear being associated with someone so notorious.
"NOOOO WINNIE THE POOH IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILES," one person posted.
“We may never know his identity,” commented another X/Twitter user, placing a black redaction box over the bear’s face:
Inclusion in the Epstein files does not suggest wrongdoing, whether that be animated characters or real people.
The meme is part of the wider reaction to the release of more Epstein files, which has seen the Trump administration accused of not being transparent over the documents amid more than 500 pages being redacted.
Representative Ro Khanna, who co-wrote the law mandating the full release of the files, said: “They have not been transparent, and that’s why that’s people’s biggest concern on this – that they’re hiding things.”
The files were only partially released on Friday, despite the federal law stating they should all have been released that day, as the DOJ acknowledged that the documents would instead be released in their entirety in a “couple of weeks”.
Why not read…?
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
