Megyn Kelly Sparks Outrage After Questioning Whether Jeffrey Epstein Was a ‘Pedophile’ — ‘There’s a Difference Between a 15-Year-Old and a 5-Year-Old’

Megyn Kelly's On-Air Comments About Jeffrey Epstein Trigger Widespread Backlash

Megyn Kelly drew immediate criticism after suggesting on her program that Jeffrey Epstein might not fit the label "pedophile," citing information from a source she described as "very, very close to this case." Kelly said the source believed Epstein preferred the "barely legal" teen category rather than very young children.

"I do know somebody very, very close to this case ... who has told me from the start years and years ago that Jeffrey Epstein, in this person’s view, was not a pedophile," Kelly said. She added, "You can say that’s a distinction without a difference. I think there is a difference. There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old, you know?"

Kelly also suggested there were no public accounts of victims who were under 10 or under 14 when they first encountered Epstein, and questioned the credibility of some officials' past statements about the case.

Online Backlash and Public Reaction

The remarks prompted swift and fierce reaction on social media. Critics accused Kelly of minimizing abuse of minors and defended that teenagers are children who deserve protection. Comments ranged from calls for accountability to denunciations of her framing of age differences in sexual abuse.

Representative reactions included accusations that her remarks were dismissive of sexual exploitation and that they could be interpreted as normalizing sexual contact between adults and minors. Kelly did not directly address the storm of criticism on her subsequent show.

Context: Newly Released Emails Renew Scrutiny

The controversy comes as newly released emails attributed to Jeffrey Epstein and shared with Ghislaine Maxwell and author Michael Wolff have renewed public scrutiny of who may have known about Epstein’s conduct. In one email dated April 2, 2011, Epstein wrote that "the dog that hasn't barked is Trump," and suggested Donald Trump had spent "hours" with an unidentified victim at Epstein's home; the victim's name was redacted in the release. Maxwell replied, "I have been thinking about that..."

A clip of the episode has circulated online and the debate over Kelly’s comments continues across social platforms.

Note: This article reports on public comments and publicly released documents. It does not add new factual claims beyond the on-air remarks and the contents of the released emails.