About

The Island Boys Epstein Island Photo is an AI-generated image of Jeffrey Epstein posing on the beach of Epstein Island with four young boys. In May 2023, a conspiracy theory spread online claiming that two of the children were Florida rappers The Island Boys, with some speculating that their viral song "Island Boy" was inspired by the incident.

Origin

On March 25th, 2023, Instagram^[1] user aiartisking, who shares AI-generated images, posted an AI-made image of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein posing on Epstein Island with four young boys, garnering around 20 likes in two months (shown below). The caption reads, "Epstein island is beautiful!"

On April 13th, Instagram^[2] user redpillmamii, a conspiracy theorist, then posted a screenshot of a photo she was tagged in showing the image with one of the Island Boys photoshopped into the corner as if to compare the children to him, garnering over 6,300 likes in a month (shown below). The caption suggests it's "sad af" if true and that the image brings a "whole different meaning to 'I'm just an island boy trying to make it.'"

In the second slide of the post, she shares a video of the Island Boys doing a Cameo request giving their condolences to Epstein, which was commissioned by TikToker^[3] and comedian @tomoarmstrong in late 2022.

Island boys at Epstein’s island? If this is true this is sad af and would be a whole different meaning to “I’m just an island boy trying to make it” This keeps coming up on my feed. Anybody that wants to talk crap to me and degrade me can leave my page. Won’t tolerate hate. These comments are disgusting.

Spread

Throughout April and May 2023, the image spread online, with many posters repeating the false rumor that the Island Boys were supposedly trafficked to Epstein Island as kids.

For example on April 14th, 2023, Instagram^[4] user s0ul_shine2020 shared the image, writing, "We don’t mean it lightly when we say it’s all about the children🤍🙏🏼." On April 15th, TikToker^[5] @2l0st__sheep posted a video sharing her post, garnering over 300,000 views in a month, writing in the description, "🚨 No wonder they blew up out of nowhere? Where’d they come from??"

On May 21st and 22nd, Twitter^[6][7] users @shae33172 and @44vibeTV posted the image, the former writing, "I always thought when they sang – Island Boy song 🎵 this was a reference to this 😳," garnering over 2,100 likes in nine days (shown below).

On May 24th, 2023, TikToker^[8] @beforetheywerefamous then posted a video speculating about the image and conspiracy theory, garnering over 2.4 million views in six days (shown below). The media reported on the story in the following days, including VladTV^[9] and PopTopic.^[10]

On May 26th, the Island Boys posted a video to TikTok^[13] of @flyysouljah responding to a comment about the claim in which they say they know nothing about Jeffrey Epstein, garnering over 650,000 views in four days (shown below).

On May 27th, Twitter^[11] user @uncledoomer posted, "island boys are early gen epstein clones confirmed," garnering over 9,700 likes in three days (shown below, left). On May 29th, Twitter^[12] user @Tripolar_B posted the photo next to a video of the boys singing "Island Boy," writing, "Ain’t never seen no niggas get molested and name themselves after the crime scene," garnering over 31,800 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References