Anne Heche named in lurid online claim tied to Epstein files; fact checks say it’s false
Online posts have tied anne heche to a sensational cannibalism narrative spun from newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents, prompting a wave of viral accusations that fact checks and file reviews say are unsupported.
How the Epstein files set off cannibalism rumours
The Department of Justice released documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein in January 2026 and, in a larger release described as millions of files in February 2026, material from the archives circulated widely online. Social posts on X, Threads and TikTok claimed the releases linked celebrities to acts of cannibalism; some viral items named Leonardo DiCaprio and pushed dark conspiracy theories, and one conspiracy site promoted an allegation that Ellen DeGeneres had eaten Anne Heche.
What the files actually contain
Public reviews of the released material found multiple references to the words "cannibal" (52 instances) and "cannibalism" (six instances), but those mentions appeared in diverse items such as media digests, an academic syllabus, a transcript of a conversation between Epstein and a man named "Richard, " and an email from Epstein about jerky and "a restaurant called Cannibal. " File reviewers found DeGeneres' name in articles about other celebrities and in compilations of tweets from her old talk show sent to Epstein by Twitter; a redacted email quoted a college graduation speech she reportedly made.
Anne Heche and the other false claim
One viral narrative tried to link Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche directly, citing the files as proof that DeGeneres "ate" Heche. That claim runs up against the official record of Heche's death: the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner ruled her death an accident in 2022, listing smoke inhalation and thermal injuries as the cause and noting a sternal fracture from blunt trauma as a significant condition. Heche was hospitalized after a car crash in Los Angeles in August 2022. Her posthumous memoir, Call Me Anne, was published in 2023 and includes material about her late-1990s relationship with DeGeneres.
Why fact checks say the links are unfounded
Fact-checking reviews concluded there is nothing in the released files that links DeGeneres to cannibalism and rated the specific claim false. Reviewers noted DeGeneres' name appears in routine contexts — an Apple News newsletter item in which she addressed allegations of misconduct on her show, and an email from Hollywood publicist Peggy Siegal about seeing DeGeneres dancing at a party on the island of St. Barts — but said being mentioned in the files is not evidence of criminal conduct. Analysts also flagged that a conspiracy post driving the latest wave relied on sweeping assertions about "unredacted" dumps and unnamed "investigators" without verifiable evidence.
Observers pointed out that inclusion of a celebrity's name in archival material does not imply wrongdoing, and that the cannibalism references found in the files appeared in contexts unrelated to the celebrities now being named online.
If real new evidence ever emerges about anyone connected to Epstein's world, it will need to withstand the same scrutiny applied to official records like a coroner's report. Until then, the cannibalism claims pairing Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche remain unsubstantiated and continue to spread through sensational social posts rather than verifiable documents.
