Susie Coen US Correspondent

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News host, caused uproar after appearing to suggest Jeffrey Epstein was not a paedophile because he was into “very young teen types” rather than eight-year-old children.

When the president came under pressure for his refusal to release the Epstein files, Kelly questioned the age-range of the disgraced financiers’ victims.

Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and was suspected of abusing girls as young as 14 when he was charged with sex trafficking minors months before his death in 2019.

Speaking on her podcast last week, Kelly said there was no question Epstein “did like them young, and there were several young women who he did this to who were minors, who were underage”.

The presenter, 54, went on to tell her guest Batya Ungar-Sargon, a NewsMax broadcaster, that she knew someone close to the Epstein case who had told her “from the start years and years ago, that Jeffrey Epstein, in this person’s view, was not a paedophile”.

“He was into the barely legal type. Like, he liked 15-year-old girls, and I realise this is disgusting, I’m definitely not trying to make an excuse for this,” she said.

“I’m just giving you facts... that he wasn’t into, like, eight-year-olds. But he liked the very young teen types that could pass for even younger than they were, but would look legal to a passerby.”

Kelly said the first time she thought Epstein was “an actual paedophile” was when Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, said earlier this year that the department of justice had thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child pornography.

After questioning whether Ms Bondi was telling the truth, Kelly added: “We have yet to see anybody come forward and say, ‘I was under 10, I was under 14 when I first came within his purview.’”

She added: “There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a five-year-old, you know?”

Kelly’s comments were widely condemned on social media and by some celebrities.

In a pointed jab on Tuesday, Marina Lacerda, an Epstein survivor said it was a “dangerous and incorrect notion” for a “prominent figure on a major platform” to suggest “a 14-year-old should not be considered a victim of paedophilia”.

‘Paedophile math’

On his show Last Week Tonight, John Oliver accused Kelly of getting bogged down in “paedophile math”.

“If I’m understanding you here – and I am definitely not – ‘Epstein wasn’t into eight-year-olds, he was just into very young teens...’,” Oliver said.

He added: “You felt that this was an important numerical distinction to bring up...

“Look, I’m clearly no stranger to sharing upsetting numbers to my audience, but please do kill me if I ever start doing paedophile math.”

Christina Ricci, the Sleepy Hollow actress, shared Kelly’s comments on her Instagram story before reportedly writing: “This woman is a danger to children.”

Kelly’s comments were also mocked on Saturday Night Live during a skit of Mr Trump giving a presidential briefing, during which an actor playing the US president said: “I thought Megyn Kelly made a terrific point this week, she said Epstein’s not a paedophile.

“Terrific thing to just say out of nowhere. Great Job Megyn, we love Megyn, they should put her back on TV. Legalise Megyn.”

Kelly’s comments marked a stark contrast to the stance she took seven years before.

While interviewing a victim of alleged abuse in 2018 on her former NBC show, the broadcaster said “the age of consent in California is 18,” which means “there’s no consenting for a 14 or even a 17-year-old in these circumstances”.

In 2023, she also condemned those trying to defend a star who had been accused of sexually assaulting a victim when she was 16, saying: “I am sick of conservatives online trying to defend that as though she had a role in it. She was a minor.”

Years before, Kelly had herself played a pivotal role in a #MeToo reckoning at her former employer, Fox News.

In 2016 she joined more than 20 women in accusing Roger Ailes, the chief executive at the time, of sexual harassment after journalist Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him. Mr Ailes was forced to resign from his position and died the following year.

Kelly, who described how she and an “underground army of women” had worked together to expose Mr Ailes, was portrayed by Charlize Theron in Bombshell, a Hollywood film about the case.

Since leaving traditional broadcasting and starting her own podcast in 2020, Kelly has become one of the biggest conservative commentators and close ally of Donald Trump.

Kelly started The Megyn Kelly show in 2020 which now boasts four million subscribers on YouTube, and her podcast is number six in the Apple charts.

Kelly was contacted for comment.