The Justice Department sloppily dropped a trove of Epstein-related emails that revealed that the disgraced financier couldn’t even hop on Xbox Live.
Yup, you read that correctly, Microsoft permanently booted Jeffrey Epstein from its online gaming platform, Xbox Live, because he was an accused sex trafficker.
According to emails reviewed by Xbox Era, the ban was imposed in December 2013 for “harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players.”
Another email revealed that Epstein was banned because he was a registered sex offender, and Microsoft was also working to purge creeps from its network as part of a coordinated effort.
Per Raw Story:
The official email to Epstein reads, “Dear Xbox LIVE member, This message is to notify you that Xbox LIVE has permanently suspended the Xbox LIVE account associated with this email address. This action is based on the New York Attorney General’s partnership with Microsoft and other online gaming companies to remove New York registered sex offenders from online gaming services to minimize the risk to others, particularly children.”
The notice added, “As a result, any Xbox LIVE account associated with this email address will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE. If you have an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription, or any unused Microsoft points, we are refunding the remaining value of those to you within 30 days.”
Jeffrey Epstein Was On Xbox Live As A Reigstered Sex Offender For 14 Months
The Verge reports that even though Epstein had registered as a sex offender years prior, he didn’t join Xbox Live until October 2012, six months after Microsoft committed to purging sex offenders from the platform.
Microsoft’s delay in banning him allowed Epstein to be on the platform for 14 months before his account was shut down.
While it remains a mystery if Epstein was a gamer, at one point in July 2014, after he was given the boot, he asked, “Do we have an Xbox 360 Kinect?”
In 2016, there was a message about purchasing an Xbox 360 for a boy, and in 2019, he complained about mysterious Xbox charges on his account.
Yikes.
It doesn’t help Microsoft that its former owner, Bill Gates, is also caught up in this situation, but that’s another story.
You can see some reactions below.
