Watch out for rumor Kevin Spacey said he would ‘be open to playing’ Epstein in biopic

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.