Megyn Kelly Faces Outrage for Distinguishing Teen Abuse from Child Abuse in Jeffrey Epstein Discussion

Megyn Kelly is facing widespread criticism after remarks she made on her Sirius XM show, "The Megyn Kelly Show," about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
During the November 12 episode, Kelly appeared to distinguish between teen abuse and child abuse, prompting outrage from viewers and advocates.
Kelly and guest Batya Ungar-Sargon discussed recently released emails from the House Oversight Committee in which Epstein mentioned former President Donald Trump.
Acknowledging Epstein's crimes, Kelly said, "[Epstein] did like them young, and there were several young women who he did this to who were minors, who were underage. There's just no question about that." She also emphasized that Trump was not involved.
According to Yahoo, Kelly cited an unnamed source "very, very close to this case" who allegedly told her that Epstein "was not a pedophile."
According to Kelly, the source claimed Epstein was "into the barely legal type. Like, he liked 15-year-old girls... I'm definitely not trying to make an excuse for this, but he wasn't into, like, 8-year-olds."
She added, "We have yet to see anybody come forward and say, 'I was under 10, I was under 14 when I first came within his purview.' You can say that's a distinction without a difference. I think there is a difference.
There's a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old, you know?" Kelly admitted that discussing Epstein made her "skin crawl" and called the situation "disgusting."
Megyn Kelly: "I know somebody very close to this case…Jeffrey Epstein, in this person's view, was not a pedophile…He was into the barely legal type, like he liked 15 year old girls…He wasn't into like 8 year olds…There's a difference between a 15 year old and a 5 year old." pic.twitter.com/a7wmT3BRJU
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) November 13, 2025
Megyn Kelly Criticized for Downplaying Epstein Crimes
Kelly further explained that it wasn't until she heard from former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi about the tens of thousands of videos labeled "child sexual abuse material" on Epstein's computer that she considered him a pedophile, People reported.
"Only a pedophile gets off on young children abuse videos," Kelly said, adding that she no longer fully trusts Bondi's statements.
Her remarks have been met with immediate backlash on social media and from advocacy groups, who criticized her for attempting to minimize the severity of Epstein's crimes.
Many argued that drawing distinctions between the ages of victims is both insensitive and misleading.
The episode came amid a surge of attention on Epstein-related documents. On November 12, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails involving Epstein, some referencing Trump, while Republicans released approximately 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the leaks a "fake narrative" meant to smear Trump.
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