Jim Gaffigan’s ‘pedophile’ joke at Golden Globes falls flat after Jeffrey Epstein’s docs drop
Jim Gaffigan made a risky joke during Sunday night’s Golden Globes.
While he was onstage introducing the best performance in a stand-up comedy on television category, the comedian, 57, said, “This is so exciting for me. The Golden Globes, I mean, I can’t even believe I’m in the entertainment industry. I can’t, you know, it’s so unlikely. I’m from a small town in Indiana. I’m not a pedophile.”
His joke fell flat (albeit, not as flat as host Jo Koy’s Taylor Swift joke).
Gaffigan did not make a direct reference to deceased, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein by name.
However, his joke came shortly after more unsealed Epstein documents were released, revealing a slew of celebrity names that were associated with Epstein’s infamous “list.”
Epstein was busted in 2019 over the alleged sexual abuse of dozens of young girls in his Upper East Side townhouse and his waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, between 2002 and 2005. He pleaded not guilty and faced up to 45 years in prison. He died in August that same year of an apparent suicide in the Special Housing Unit of Manhattan Correctional Center downtown.
Dozens of high-profile names — including royalty, politicians and famous scientists — appeared in an avalanche of previously sealed court documents related to Epstein that were released late Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
The documents are part of a larger group naming more than 170 people with ties to Epstein, including victims and former employees.
Leonardo DiCaprio — who was sitting in the room in front of Gaffigan when the comedian made the joke — was named in the docs.
DiCaprio was at the Globes because he was nominated for best actor in a dramatic film for his role in “Killers of the Flower Moon” (ultimately losing the trophy to “Oppenheimer’s” Cillian Murphy).
DiCaprio’s name appeared in a section of the docs where Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg was asked about press reports that she had met certain Hollywood stars — including Cate Blanchett and DiCaprio — during her time with Epstein.
She alleged that Epstein had bragged to her about having the celeb connections while she was giving him massages.
“I did not meet them, no. When I spoke about them, it was when I was massaging him, and he would get off — he would be on the phone a lot at that time, and one time he said, ‘Oh, that was Leonardo,’ or, ‘That was Cate Blanchett,’ or Bruce Willis. That kind of thing,” Sjoberg said in her deposition.
