Fortnite has responded to claims that Jeffrey Epstein is still alive and actively playing the battle royale after his username appeared in the Epstein files.
Earlier this month, the Epstein files were released and a receipt from YouTube revealed his username on the platform as ‘littlestjeff1.’
It was also determined that Epstein was a bit of a gamer. An Xbox Live account tied to his email was banned in 2013.
Users then discovered that by searching the name on Fortnite Tracker, an account by that name had purchased V-Bucks.
Even more wild, the account had played 74 Fortnite matches in 2025, suggesting that not only was Epstein still alive, but he was playing Fortnite.
As this theory made its way across the internet, Fortnite had to step in and debunk the rumors.
Fortnite debunks claims Jeffrey Epstein has an active Fortnite account
In response to a post by X user Pirat_Nation, Fortnite explained that the account wasn’t actually Epstein’s and was a prank by a player using the name.
“A few days ago, an existing Fortnite account owner changed their username from something totally unrelated to littlestjeff1, following the revelation of littlestjeff1 as a name on YouTube,” Fortnite revealed. ”These Fortnite trackers only display your current name, not any prior changes to it.”
Additionally, they explained that Epstein wasn’t playing Fortnite before his death, at least not with his email address from the files.
“We have no record of the subject’s email addresses referenced in the public document existing in the Epic account system. Since the public document releases, people have created Fortnite accounts with similar-looking email addresses and user names.”
Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney also chimed in on the situation, “Someone’s been having fun renaming their Fortnite account, but it’s recent and not connected to the email addresses in the archive.”
While truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, this wasn’t such a case.
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