Jon Stewart has reacted to being casually name-dropped in the recently released Jeffrey Epstein files.
Millions of files related to the case of Epstein were unveiled on Friday (31 January), linking the convicted paedophile to world figures, including Prince Andrew, Bill Gates and Donald Trump.
Daily Show host Stewart was also mentioned in passing, but not because Epstein had ties to him: the TV host is brought up in a 2015 email exchange between Epstein and producer Barry Josephsen, in which they devise the idea of releasing a stand-up comedy special about a figure from the world of comedy named only as “Woody”.
“I am in the files. This is actually true,” Stewart said, before revealing the contents of the email: “Make a true biographical experience with his stand-up being the capper. Somebody like Jon Stewart could host/narrate the biographical part.”
Stewart, in mock outrage, joked: “Excuse me? I am offended. Somebody like Jon Stewart, or Jon Stewart? My point is, do I have the offer, or is this an audition?”
The TV star called the release of the Epstein files “Groundhog Day”, adding: “This is the day when Donald Trump sees Epstein’s shadow and we get six more weeks of not knowing who any of the co-conspirators are in this multinational sex trafficking case.”
He hit out at the “politically well-connected” for “skirting any form of legal accountability” after being named in the files, adding: “It seems pretty clear to me that there is a sanctuary city in this country. The real sanctuary city is where money and power protect you from the consequences of sex trafficking, or influence peddling, or taking half a billion dollars and giving away America’s AI infrastructure — not the small Midwestern city where trying to help a lady get up after she gets maced gets you shot in the back of the f***ing head.”
Stewart was referencing the death of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed during an altercation with an ICE agent in Minneapolis in January. An autopsy report commissioned by her family found that Good, 37, had suffered three clear gunshot wounds, one of which had been to her head.
Stewart previously addressed Trump’s appearance in the Epstein emails, claiming: “You know it’s real because his allies are working overtime to distract.”
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Many of the emails released in November 2025 mention Trump, who was friends with the disgraced financier decades ago. In one email, Epstein claimed the future US president “knew about the girls”.
However, Trump, who at the time said he would sign a bill to release the files if passed, told reporters that he “knows nothing” about the emails.
Stewart said: “This Epstein thing is no Democrat hoax, and you know it’s real because Trump’s allies are working overtime to distract, or in the case of Fox News, not even a mention.
“When the emails came out, Fox devoted most of their airtime to such urgent matters as: the socialist takeover of Seattle, the Treasury phasing out the penny, the Northern Lights, the growing popularity of Christian music, and, as always, ‘Kamala Harris goes crazy for carbs’.”
He added the president is “flailing” when asked about the emails, stating: “If he had nothing to hide, he could have declassified and released these files at any time, and how do I know this? He said so.”
Stewart then presented a clip of Trump on Fox News in September 2022, saying: “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’”
The host added that Trump’s inclusion in the Epstein emails is not evidence of guilt.
