In the sprawling release of over three million pages tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a curious entry caught internet attention this week: the name of music legend Stevie Wonder. But unlike the lurid theories swirling online, the reason his name appears isn’t linked to wrongdoing or scandal, it’s historical, political and rooted in a choice he made years ago that touched on the fraught Israel–Palestine conflict.
The name surfaces in a 2014 email, part of the newly unsealed “Epstein files” originally sent to Epstein by the Jewish News Syndicate, a conservative media outlet, as a roundup of celebrities labeled by the sender for having “anti-Israel” views.
Wonder’s mention stems from a decision he made back in 2012. The soul icon was scheduled to perform at a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) gala in Los Angeles, an event raising funds for programs tied to the Israeli military. But amid pressure from advocacy groups and activism surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and following a United Nations recommendation tied to his status as a UN “Messenger of Peace,” he chose to pull out of the benefit.
That professional choice, from over a decade ago, shows up in the context of a list of public figures the newsletter characterized as critical of Israel along with others like Zayn Malik and Emma Thompson, rather than as a sign of misconduct or any legal connection to Epstein’s criminal case.
In short, Wonder’s name resurfaced not because he was involved with Epstein, but because a historical email about political viewpoints was captured among the Epstein documents and made public.
