Lifetouch Promises It Didn’t Supply Photos of Children to Jeffrey Epstein
Rumors have swirled in communities across the United States that Lifetouch, the photography company famous for school pictures, has a connection to Jeffrey Epstein. The rumors have become so prolific that Lifetouch’s CEO had to issue a statement refuting any claims that the company has any connection whatsoever to Epstein.
These rumors started because Lifetouch has been owned by Shutterfly since 2018, and in 2019, Shutterfly was acquired by investment firm Apollo Global Management for $2.7 billion. Apollo Global Management was co-founded in 1990 by Leon Black, Marc Rowan, and Josh Harris.
There is significant evidence that Black had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Business Insider described him as one of Epstein’s “most powerful associates.” Black resigned as CEO of Apollo in 2021 after it was reported that he had paid Epstein a staggering $158 million for various tax-related financial advice over the years. Black has also been publicly accused of sex crimes, including an allegation that he raped a child at Jeffrey Epstein’s townhouse, although no charges were ever filed.
As the Epstein Files have received significant attention in recent weeks and months, some people have connected the dots between Leon Black, Apollo Global Management, and Lifetouch. Parents in Weber County, Utah, contacted local schools to ensure that no photos of their children were ever shared with third parties including, potentially, Epstein himself. Likewise, parents in New Jersey panicked about the possible connections between the school picture company and Epstein. Families in Texas, too, expressed significant fear.
“If you’re a parent, this should make your stomach drop,” Houston resident Robin Lent told Chron. “Millions of children’s images are uploaded into databases every single year by a corporate structure tied to someone connected to Epstein.”
Enough rumors circulated online parents were so concerned that Lifetouch had little choice but to comment.
“At Lifetouch, student safety goes beyond the camera lens. As a trusted partner to schools for 90 years, we’re committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of every student we serve,” says Lifetouch CEO Ken Murphy. “When Lifetouch photographers take your student’s picture, that image is safeguarded for families and schools, only, with no exceptions.”
“Lifetouch does not — and has never provided — images to any third party,” Murphy continues.
The rest of Murphy’s statement is provided in full below, with formatting preserved:
Amidst a sea of misinformation, here are the facts:
- Lifetouch images are shared only for the purposes of school records and to allow parents or guardians to purchase them. Additionally, as part of our decades long relationship with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Lifetouch prints SmileSafe cards free of charge for each student we photograph that families can use with law enforcement if a child goes missing.
- Lifetouch follows all applicable federal, state, and local data privacy laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). In fact, Lifetouch was the first school photography company to sign a voluntary and enforceable privacy pledge — reaffirming our deep commitment to protecting school communities.
- Lifetouch never shares, sells, or licenses student images to train AI models, including large language models, or facial recognition technology. Lifetouch has never provided images for such purposes to any other third party.
- Funds managed by subsidiaries of Apollo Global Management are investors in Shutterfly, the parent company of Lifetouch. Neither Apollo nor its funds are involved in the day-to-day operations of Lifetouch and therefore no one employed by Apollo has ever had access to any student images.
- Lifetouch is not named in the Epstein files. The documents contain no allegations that Lifetouch itself was involved in, or that student photos were used in, any illicit activities.
We value the trust you put in us to safeguard your students’ images, and we are proud to help families across the country preserve these milestone memories.
Our commitments to student safety are publicly available here:
Texas parent MaKallie Gann told Chron the statement did little to ease her worries.
“Even if they were guilty, they would do everything they could to try to cover their tracks.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
