“I realize this is disgusting.”

Megyn Kelly says Jeffrey Epstein was ‘not a pedophile’ because ‘he liked 15-year-old girls’

"I realize this is disgusting."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

EW's editorial guidelines

November 13, 2025 6:28 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Megyn Kelly and Jeffrey Epstein. Credit:

Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Megyn Kelly has waded into the discourse around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein with a creative new take.

On Wednesday's episode of *The Megyn Kelly Show*, the conservative political commentator referenced "somebody very, very close to this case" who knows "virtually everything" about the late financier's troubling private dealings that helped her form her own views on the matter. "Jeffrey Epstein, in this person's view, was not a pedophile," Kelly said. "This is this person's view, who was there for a lot of this, but that he was into the barely legal type. Like, he liked 15-year-old girls."

Kelly reflected, "I realize this is disgusting."

Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008, and charged with sex trafficking minors and conspiracy to sex traffic minors in New York in 2019, but died by apparent suicide in his jail cell before the commencement of trial. Since his death, troves of communications between Epstein and his famous associates — including England's Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton, and current President Donald Trump — have sketched a troubling picture of Epstein at the head of what appears to be an international operation facilitating the perpetration of child sexual abuse.

"Pedophile," the term Kelly is weighing, is not a legal term but rather a diagnostic one, however. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders defines three criteria for pedophilia: recurrent sexual fantasies about minors; acting on or incurring distress in not acting on those fantasies; the individual who possesses those fantasies is at least 16, and the subject of their fantasies is at least five years older than the child or children in question.

Despite the clear alignment between the crimes Epstein has been implicated in, charged with, and convicted on, and the clinical criteria for pedophilia, Kelly still isn't decided on Epstein. "He wasn't into, like, 8-year-olds, but he liked the very young teen types that could pass for even younger than they were," she said.

At the same time, according to Kelly, Epstein wanted these minors older than eight but younger than 15, but who look even younger, to also "look legal to a passerby."

She added, "I'm definitely not trying to make an excuse for this. I'm just giving you facts."

Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump in 1997.

Davidoff Studios/Getty

Kelly noted that her verdict on Epstein was momentarily changed when Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, claimed her Justice Department "had tens of thousands of videos of alleged... child sexual abuse material, on his computer." Kelly said she remembered thinking, "'Oh no, he was an actual pedophile," but stated now that she doesn't "know whether it's true" because she doesn't "trust Pam Bondi's word on the Epstein matter anymore."

Further, Kelly claimed that "we have yet to see anybody come forward and say, 'I was eight, I was under 10, I was under 14 when I first came within his purview.'" For the former Fox News host, "there's a difference between a 15-year-old and a five-year-old," but in either case, "the whole thing is just disgusting."

A representative for Kelly did not immediately respond to **'s request for comment.

Battle of the Megs: Megyn Kelly, Meghan McCain clash over Tucker Carlson's profanity

Seth Meyers puts Trump on blast after Democrats share 'damning' new Epstein emails

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Since Epstein's 2019 death, Congress and the White House have been locked in a push and pull whether or not to release the volumes of documents that make up the so-called "Epstein files."

Bondi claimed her Justice Department was reviewing "tens of thousands of videos" and promised to release significant new information regarding Epstein's alleged crimes, but has faced widespread criticism for reneging on her own promises and even walking back her claim that Epstein possessed a lengthy "client list."

A group of Democrats on the House Oversight Committee recently released a cache of emails between Epstein and his associates, several of which mention Trump by name. Kelly supported Trump in the 2024 election, calling him a "protector of women."****

You can listen to Kelly's full comments on *The Megyn Kelly Show *above.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW TV”