Dalai Lama Denies Ever Meeting Jeffrey Epstein After Name Appears 169 Times In DOJ Files

The Dalai Lama's office has firmly denied that the Tibetan spiritual leader ever met Jeffrey Epstein after newly released U.S. Department of Justice files mentioned his name repeatedly.

Emails Show Epstein Sought Meetings

The court records include multiple personal emails in which Epstein appears to propose dinners or events with high-profile guests. A May 2015 email attributed to Epstein and sent to Soon-Yi Previn, the wife of director Woody Allen, said he was "working on the Dalai Lama for dinner." In another message to venture capitalist Joichi Ito, Epstein suggested:

"Fun dinner would be Dalai Lama. Woody Allen, Chomsky? Let's do it."

Office Statement: No Contact, No Authorization

Responding to the disclosures, the Dalai Lama's office issued a clear denial: His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on his behalf. The files list the Dalai Lama’s name 169 times, but do not accuse him of any wrongdoing; the records indicate Epstein sought contact rather than the Dalai Lama seeking it.

Odd Mentions In The Records

The Dalai Lama's name appears in a variety of items among the scanned case records, including as an index entry for a document titled "Massage for Dummies." Other entries include a redacted email dated 21 October 2012 in which a woman tells Epstein she plans to attend an island event where "the Dalai Lama is coming" and then a birthday dinner with a person named Anastasia.

Context: Public Profile And Past Controversies

Born Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama — now in his 90s — was recently announced as a Grammy winner for his audiobook, Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. He has lived in exile in northern India since fleeing Tibet in 1959 and leads a government-in-exile based in Dharamsala.

In recent years he has faced unrelated public controversies: in 2023 he apologised after a widely reported incident in which he kissed a young boy on the lips at a public event in India; in 2019 he apologised after saying that if the Dalai Lama returned as a woman, "she should be more attractive."

Succession Dispute With China

The files and reactions come against the backdrop of long-standing tensions over the Dalai Lama's succession. Beijing maintains its leaders have a role in approving his successor, a claim many Tibetans reject as political interference. In July last year the Dalai Lama said China should have no role in appointing his successor and indicated he planned to reincarnate after his death.

Bottom line: The DOJ files show Jeffrey Epstein sought to connect with a wide range of figures, and include frequent references to the Dalai Lama — but the Dalai Lama's office insists there was no meeting or authorised contact.