Overview
- Kelly cited an unnamed source to assert Epstein was “not a pedophile” and “liked 15-year-old girls,” later calling his conduct “sick” and “disgusting” and saying she was not making excuses.
- Meghan McCain denounced the comments as “obviously insane,” questioning any effort to parse attraction to minors and stressing that the law treats under-18s as children.
- Former child actors and teens posted photos of themselves at 15 and criticized Kelly, with figures like Cynthia Nixon and Christina Ricci emphasizing that 15-year-olds are children.
- Newsweek and HuffPost reported users saying they canceled or planned to cancel SiriusXM over the episode, and HuffPost noted the company had not commented as of Wednesday evening.
- Legislation to compel the Justice Department to release Epstein-related files advanced, with the Senate sending a bill to the president for signature, as Democrats separately released emails from Epstein that referenced Donald Trump.