By PingTV News Desk | Updated: February 8, 2026

DHARAMSALA – The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has issued a firm and “unequivocal” denial regarding social media reports and media claims attempting to link the Tibetan spiritual leader to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The clarification comes after viral reports alleged that the Dalai Lama’s name appeared approximately 169 times in a massive trove of investigative documents recently released by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ).

“No Meetings, No Interactions”

In a press statement issued from Thekchen Choeling, Dharamsala, the spiritual leader’s office addressed the growing speculation on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and various digital news outlets.

“We can unequivocally confirm that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorized any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf,” the official statement read.

The office added that the clarification was necessary to counter “misleading and baseless” narratives that have resurfaced following the publication of over three million pages of records related to the Epstein case under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Understanding the “169 Mentions”

While the name “Dalai Lama” does appear in the released data, analysts and legal experts have noted that the context is largely incidental. Key points regarding the mentions include:

• Casual References: Most mentions are found in forwarded news articles, generic mailing lists, or “name-dropping” by Epstein’s associates.

• Failed Outreach: Some records indicate Epstein or his intermediaries attempted to arrange meetings with high-profile global figures for “prestige,” but there is zero evidence of any invitation being accepted.

• “Massage for Dummies”: Bizarrely, many hits for the name “Dalai Lama” stem from the index of a scanned book titled Massage for Dummies, which was included in the evidence files.

Renewed Scrutiny Amid Global Visibility

The controversy resurfaced just days after the Dalai Lama made history by winning his first Grammy Award for the audiobook Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Spokespersons for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) have hinted that the timing of the “smear campaign” may be politically motivated, noting that the spiritual leader has long been a target of misinformation from state-sponsored entities looking to undermine his global moral standing.

The Dalai Lama, now 90, has spent decades in exile in India, advocating for the preservation of Tibetan culture and universal compassion. His office concluded the statement by urging the public and the press to verify facts before amplifying “unfounded allegations.”

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