After the U.S. Department of Justice released 3.5 million more documents related to the case of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Jan. 30, 2026, a claim emerged that Kevin Spacey — the actor who faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct when the #MeToo movement started in 2017 — had announced he would “be open to playing” Epstein in a biographical movie.
For example, an X user posted the rumor on Feb. 4 (archived): “Kevin Spacey says he is ‘open to playing Jeffrey Epstein in a biopic.'”
The rumor appeared on Threads and Facebook.
While some readers appeared to take the rumor Spacey said he would play Epstein in a movie as fact, internet searches uncovered no evidence that he’d made such a statement. Had this been the case, reputable news outlets would have reported on it.
Rather, the rumor about Spacey offering to play Epstein originated with WKM NEWS (archived) — an Instagram account that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. The account was labeled “Satire/Parody” and its bio stated: “The most untrusted news source. Fake News | parody account.”
The rumor spread months after the actor called on X to release all the files related to Epstein (archived):
In 2024, Spacey said on television he’d once flown on a plane that belonged to Epstein, and that there were “young girls” on that plane. The plane was taking him on a humanitarian trip to South Africa with the Clinton Foundation, the actor said.
Snopes previously addressed a satirical rumor from WKM NEWS that claimed President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly “it burns when I pee” during a speech.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
Anna Rascouët-Paz
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