As Lady Gaga prepares to take the stage at the 2026 Grammy Awards, a separate conversation threatens to cast a shadow over her act: her mentions in the Epstein files released January 30.
For many online, the fact that her name appears several times in the 3,000-page document threatens to ruin her reputation, as critics lump her in alongside controversial figures also mentioned, such as Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and others.
Highlights
- Gaga is mentioned multiple times in the January 30 Epstein file release.
- Author Deepak Chopra referred to her as a "friend," and suggested her as a guest for dinner with Epstein.
- Epstein was also allegedly invited to Lady Gaga's release party for her third studio album, Artpop.
“The elite dinner-party web just keeps getting weirder and darker,” a reader wrote.
The files also mention Epstein taking an interest in Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, but allegedly being ignored by the artist.
Lady Gaga’s several mentions in the recently released batch of the Epstein files have fueled debate online
Image credits: Getty/Amy Sussman
The latest disclosure came in a massive Justice Department release tied to late offender Jeffrey Epstein, with officials dumping more than three million pages into the public domain under a transparency law signed by Donald Trump.
According to the DOJ briefing, the new batch is huge in volume and heavily controlled in what the public can actually see.
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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the publication includes roughly 180,000 images and more than 2,000 videos, bringing the total released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act to about 3.5 million pages.
He said more than 500 lawyers and professionals worked long hours to prepare the disclosure, and defended missing the government’s 30-day deadline by pointing to the scale of the review.
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In the same briefing, Blanche laid out what was excluded, including personally identifying details of victims, medical files, any depictions of crimes connected to children, and anything that could jeopardize an active investigation.
He also said the department applied extensive visual redactions, describing how every woman appearing in images and videos was blurred except for Ghislaine Maxwell.
Even with those guardrails, the DOJ also stressed a point that appearing in the documents does not mean a person committed a crime.
Self-help author Deepak Chopra mentioned Gaga as a “friend” and considered inviting her to dinner with Epstein
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Inside that broader release, Gaga’s name has become a lightning rod, and the most shared example is an email exchange involving new age guru Deepak Chopra.
One message shows Epstein asking Chopra: “If your task was to bring the two most interesting people that you like to dinner, who?”
Chopra’s reply, dated Monday, August 15, 2016, put Gaga at the top of his list and described her as someone he considered a friend.
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Image credits: DOJ
He also suggested physicist Max Tegmark as another standout guest, then added that Madonna was a close friend as well, while claiming Gaga and Madonna disliked each other and saying he would love to see them make peace.
Chopra rounded out the dinner idea by mentioning Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek and filmmaker Woody Allen, then shifted to logistics, asking if Epstein could speak by phone on Wednesday and noting he could potentially sneak away the next day if that worked better.
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Online, that single phrase “she is a friend” has been treated as the smoking gun, with fans arguing over what “friend” means in this context and how seriously it should be taken as a statement of real-world proximity to Epstein.
The Chopra email is not the only place Gaga appears in the material being discussed.
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One earlier email from 2011, sent by a Scott Dennett, references Epstein while also mentioning Gaga as a concert destination.
In that message, Dennett mentions Epstein, suggests he might need a boat to get to the island, and says he bought a ticket to attend Gaga’s ArtRave show in New York.
Image credits: Getty/Brianna Bryson
Similar correspondence from that year mentions Jeff Koons, who designed Lady Gaga's ARTPOP album cover and participated in the creation of a $25 million sculpture commemorating the production.
The email mentions Koons' intent to invite Epstein to the album's release party.
This isn’t the first time Gaga has been involved in a controversy related to Epstein
In early 2025, she appeared alongside other celebrities in a debunked “list” of Epstein associates that circulated online as a supposed “visitor list” to Epstein’s island.
Posts on X and Facebook shared an image claiming it proved the implication of public figures, with names such as Gates, Justin Trudeau, Gaga, and Ellen DeGeneres.
Image credits: Getty/NBC
The claim gained traction after Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that documents would be declassified.
However, the circulating “visitor list” was not among the official documents published in February 2025 by the FBI and the Attorney General’s Office, nor among the case-related files declassified in January 2024.
"Silence": Fans believe Gaga repeatedly ignored Epstein
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