The White House has been accused of “having no shame” after a redacted image of Diana Ross and Michael Jackson released in the latest wave of Epstein files was found to be a photo of the duo with their own children.
In the publicly available, unredacted photo, the iconic musicians and longtime friends flank Bill Clinton, alongside their kids Evan Ross, Michael “Prince” Jackson Jr., and Paris Jackson.
The shot was taken in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2003, by photographer Jonathan Exley, who took many photos of Jackson throughout his career.
Many online users identified the image, and Ross’s son, Evan, clarified that the redactions were not concealing potential victims. “That’s me, not unidentified women,” he commented on an Instagram post.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson was also corrected by a community notice when she shared the redacted image on X on Friday.
“Per the Epstein Files Transparency Act, DOJ was specifically instructed only to redact the faces of victims and/or minors. Here is a picture of Bill Clinton with his arm around Michael Jackson, and redacted individuals,” she wrote alongside the photo.
In the notice, it was clarified: “Those photos are not new and are not related to the Epstein case. The actual photo with the children was for a charity concert. The children are Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.”
The White House press office told the Daily Beast that the “image was released by the DOJ with redactions to protect minors and/or victims as required by law,” though the DOJ has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Many people on X felt that the publicity photo was purposefully redacted to hide the faces of Ross and Jackson’s children to make it seem unwholesome, despite the lack of any clear connection to the Epstein investigation.
“That’s atrocious, a stone wall deliberate fake. They’ve pasted in a fake blanket so that it covers the exact outline of the kids’ clearly formal clothes and to make it look like something seedy is afoot. What sick mind came up with that?” one person asked.
“They have no shame. They truly are a basket of deplorables!” said a second.
Many theorized that it was purposefully released in such a way to implicate Bill Clinton, who on Friday suggested he was being used as a “scapegoat” in the scandal.
A statement from Clinton’s press secretary read in part: “There are two types of people here. The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light. The second group continued relationships with him after. We’re in the first.
“No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that. Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats.”
While the White House was called out in Jackson and Ross’s case for redacting a public image, the Department of Justice has been accused of being trigger-happy with redactions throughout the release process.
DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was fact-checked via a community note on Friday when he referred to the process of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
In the note, he was reminded: “The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law on Nov. 19, 2025, requires the DOJ to release all unclassified Epstein-related records by Dec. 19, 2025, with limited redactions allowed only for victim info or active investigations.”
According to NBC News, the latest trove of documents included more than 680 fully redacted pages of documents, including a 119-page grand jury transcript that was completely blacked out.
The DOJ has also seemingly been caught quietly deleting a photo featuring Trump, with the president having been notably absent from the files despite his long friendship with Epstein.
