Renowned actress Whoopi Goldberg has addressed her name appearing in the recently unsealed Jeffrey Epstein files.
Speaking on Tuesday’s broadcast of The View, the 70-year-old said she didn’t know Epstein and was certainly not his girlfriend, stressing that she wanted to be honest with her fans.
“In the name of transparency, my name is in the files,” the Color Purple actress admitted.
By the time the 2013 email in question was written, Epstein had already served time as a convicted sex offender for crimes involving a minor.
Goldberg read the email aloud, which showed someone suggesting she needed a plane to get to Monaco for a charity event thrown by Julian Lennon and asking if Epstein wanted to offer his private jet.
“‘They don’t want to charter, so they are looking for private owners. Here’s the info,” she read. “They are saying do you want to offer your G2?” Epstein declined with a simple, “No thanks.”
Defending herself, Goldberg stressed her complete innocence and lack of connection to Epstein’s illegal actions.
“This is my point because when I tell you, people are trying to turn me into … I wasn’t his girlfriend, I wasn’t his friend. I was not only too old [for him], but it was at a time when you used to have to have facts before you said stuff,” she said.
She also addressed criticism and rumours, saying, “People actually believe that I was with him. Honey, come on. Every man I’ve been with, you’ve known about him because either the Enquirer wrote about it. People wrote about this stuff. So, no. I didn’t get on the plane because you know what I would have to do to get on the plane?”
Goldberg recalled her fear of flying, which began after witnessing a plane crash in 1978. She spent more than 30 years travelling by bus before finally overcoming the fear with a special course and anti-anxiety medication.
The Department of Justice recently released files listing high-profile individuals mentioned in documents connected to Epstein, including Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump.