NEWSRosie O'Donnell Pushes Epstein Files Back Into Spotlight With Survivor Video
Rosie O’Donnell met with Jeffrey Epstein survivors in a show of support.
Sept. 12 2026, Published 5:57 a.m. ET
Rosie O’Donnell is using her platform to put the Epstein Files back in front of the public.
The comedian and former The View co-host posted an Instagram video showing her meeting with several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s s-- trafficking and abuse. In the clip, O’Donnell and the women, dressed in white, stood together with raised fists and sang Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.”
The comedian sang ‘I Am Woman’ alongside the survivors in a video.
“I know it’s been very hard for you and with very little support,” O’Donnell told the survivors.
“And I’m sorry that our country is so “f-----” up that this is what you have to live through, because you are all heroes,” she added. “And you’re going to change how the world deals with child s-- abuse.”
A Public Push for Survivors
Rosie O’Donnell used her platform to renew attention on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
O’Donnell ended the video with childhood photos of the survivors, followed by the words “Support Survivors” and “The Epstein Files.”
In her caption, O’Donnell wrote that she contacted the survivors after former Attorney General Pam Bondi said no men would be charged in connection with the Epstein files.
“I called some Epstein survivors [and] asked them to sing with me a powerful Helen Reddy song that taught me at 10 years old to use my voice,” O’Donnell wrote.
“Viral pressure gets attention. It rarely gets accountability,” said Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations.
“A video like this can force a reaction within hours. It can’t force a real answer,” he added. “Those are different things, and audiences are getting sharper at telling them apart.”
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The Risk of the Fight Over Tone
A public relations expert warned that viral pressure did not always lead to accountability.
“The risk with this kind of pressure campaign is predictable: the target reacts to the tone instead of the substance, and the fight over tone becomes the news story,” Mudd explained.
“Once that happens,” he said, “the person applying pressure has to decide whether to escalate again or let it go, and neither choice guarantees the original question gets answered.”
That risk is familiar territory for O’Donnell, a longtime Trump critic who recently guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! and joked that she had been living in Ireland because of “Mango Mussolini.”
She has also defended Kimmel amid Trump administration pressure, telling Variety that she supports “our ability as entertainers and citizens to speak out against our government.”
What Happens Next
The video shifted focus toward whether officials would address survivors’ concerns.
Mudd said O’Donnell’s video had already succeeded in drawing attention to survivors and the files. The question is whether the pressure produces more than another round of reaction.
“What happens in the next 48 hours matters, maybe more than the video itself,” he explained. “The real audience isn't the people already convinced. It's the people watching to see whether anyone with real authority responds to the substance instead of the noise.”
