Fact Checks Debunk Viral Claims Linking Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres to Epstein Files
Multiple fact checks have rejected a lurid online claim that Ellen DeGeneres ate anne heche, after social posts misrepresented recently released Jeffrey Epstein documents. The clarification comes as investigators, journalists and archive reviewers sifted millions of pages and found references to both cannibalism and public figures, but no connection between the two.
U. S. Department of Justice release and the document dump
The U. S. Department of Justice released batches of material tied to Jeffrey Epstein, with mentions of those materials appearing in January 2026 and a larger, millions-of-files release noted in February 2026. The newly available datasets contain a wide range of content and have prompted renewed scrutiny of names that appear in communications and media digests within the archive.
Snopes review: 52 mentions of 'cannibal' and six of 'cannibalism'
A systematic review identified 52 instances of the word "cannibal" and six instances of "cannibalism" across the DOJ files, though many of those results appear to be duplications of the same mentions. Those references are embedded in items such as media digests, an academic syllabus, a transcript of a conversation between Epstein and a man named "Richard, " and an email about jerky and "a restaurant called Cannibal. " Crucially, none of the instances link the words to Ellen DeGeneres.
The People's Voice post and the social-media surge
A conspiracy site called The People's Voice published a sensational post alleging that newly discussed Epstein files proved extreme crimes by DeGeneres, including that she "ate" Heche. That article invoked phrases like "unredacted" dumps and unnamed "investigators" but provided no verifiable evidence that could be checked against official records. The People's Voice piece was amplified on platforms such as X, Threads and TikTok, and the online circulation of the claim triggered formal fact checks.
Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner ruling on Anne Heche
Anne Heche's death was officially ruled an accident in 2022 by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, which listed smoke inhalation and thermal injuries as the cause and cited a sternal fracture due to blunt trauma as a significant condition. Heche had been hospitalised after a car crash in Los Angeles in August 2022. Those medical and coroner findings are part of the public record and directly contradict any suggestion that her death was a concealed homicide tied to the Epstein files.
Where Ellen DeGeneres appears in the files
Reviewers found that Ellen DeGeneres's name appears in the released material, but in contexts such as compilations of tweets from her former talk show sent to Epstein by Twitter, an Apple News newsletter item, and a redacted email quoting a college graduation speech she reportedly made. A publicist, Peggy Siegal, wrote in an email forwarded to Epstein that she had seen DeGeneres dancing at a party on the island of St. Barts. None of those mentions constitutes evidence of criminal conduct.
Related items and broader fallout
Other items in the release illustrate the variety of content: a note that Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti led a 2024 purchase of the Baltimore Orioles; a mention that the name Tisch appears in hundreds of emails in this round of documents; and unrelated media mentions such as a sports broadcast referencing the NFL Scouting Combine. Commentary from fact-check organizations and news outlets concluded that inclusion in the Epstein files does not imply wrongdoing for named individuals.
Because a handful of isolated keywords and public-figure names appear in a vast dataset that also contains routine media clippings and forwarded emails, the files can be and have been read out of context—prompting false conclusions. What makes this notable is how easily disconnected fragments can be recombined into a sensational narrative that demands debunking; the result has been a cascade of viral posts and corrective fact checks.
Public-facing fact checks have labelled the cannibalism claim false and emphasized that serious allegations require credible documentation, legal confirmation, and transparent sourcing rather than anonymous posts. Anne Heche's posthumous memoir Call Me Anne was published in 2023 and contains material about her late-1990s relationship with DeGeneres, which helps explain why their names are sometimes mentioned together in public records and discussions—but it does not substantiate crimes.
The timing of the document releases has prompted intensive scrutiny, and reviewers continue to parse redactions and contextual notes. Until verifiable, corroborated evidence emerges that can be matched to official records, the claim that DeGeneres engaged in cannibalism or that Heche's death was anything other than the coroner's finding remains unproven and has been discredited in multiple fact checks.
