US schools cancel class pictures after online claims surrounding Epstein
Some U.S. school districts have dropped plans for student class photos after widely shared social media posts falsely linked a billionaire associated with Jeffrey Epstein to school photography company Lifetouch. The company said Friday that the claims are “completely false.”
The disruptions to school picture schedules in Texas and other states began after online posts connected Lifetouch — which photographs millions of students each year — to investment firm Apollo Global Management.
Apollo’s former CEO is billionaire investor Leon Black, who had repeated contacts with Epstein and received financial advice from him. Black led Apollo in 2019, when funds managed by the firm acquired Lifetouch’s parent company, Shutterfly.
The $2.7 billion deal closed in September 2019, one month after Epstein died in jail while awaiting trial on federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of underage girls. Both Lifetouch and Apollo emphasized that timeline in statements Friday. Two days earlier, Lifetouch CEO Ken Murphy said in an Instagram post that neither Black nor any Apollo directors or investors had ever accessed Lifetouch photos.
“No Lifetouch executives have ever had any relationship or contact with Epstein, and we have never shared student images with any third party, including Apollo,” the company said. “Apollo and its funds also have no role in Lifetouch’s daily operations and have no access to student images.”
The canceled school photos are another ripple effect from the recent release of millions of documents from the Epstein investigation. The files show Epstein maintained contact with numerous CEOs, journalists, scientists, and prominent politicians long after his 2008 conviction on sex-crime charges.
In the small Texas town of Malakoff, the local school district canceled a student picture day after several parents said they were uncomfortable with Lifetouch photographing their children, district spokesperson Katherine Smith said in a Friday statement.
Several other Texas schools and districts also canceled or changed plans, along with a charter school in Arizona, according to Facebook posts by the schools.
“We decided our students and families would be best served by keeping all of our pictures in-house for the rest of this year, and we are looking at all of our options for the 2026–2027 school year,” Smith said.
Among concerned parents was MaKallie Gann, whose children attend schools in Howe, about 60 miles north of Dallas. She said she worried about how much information Lifetouch collects about students.
“Whenever you order the pictures, it has their name. It has the age, of course. It has their grade, their teacher, the school that they’re in,” she said.
Reviews of thousands of documents released this month by the U.S. Department of Justice have found no evidence that Epstein or anyone associated with him ever accessed Lifetouch photos. The files contain at least 1.7 million records. Black’s name appears about 8,200 times, though that likely includes duplicates.
Black stepped down as Apollo’s CEO in March 2021, saying he wanted to focus on his family, health, and other interests. That move came two months after a board committee report concluded Epstein had advised Black personally on estate planning, taxes, charitable giving, and management of his family office, but had provided no services to Apollo and had not invested in Apollo funds.
The report — requested by Black — also found “no evidence” that he was involved in Epstein’s alleged criminal activities “in any way” or “at any time.”
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