The controversy centers around Leon Black, who was an associate of Epstein\u2019s and the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, an investment fund that bought Lifetouch\u2019s parent company, Shutterfly, in September 2019. <\/p>\n
In recent weeks, viral posts on Facebook and elsewhere have called Lifetouch\u2019s proximity to Epstein\u2019s orbit a \u201cparental red flag,”<\/a> and have warned families against allowing their children\u2019s photos and data to be kept by a company that could have been linked <\/a>to Epstein. There has been no evidence that has emerged that any children\u2019s photos were accessed inappropriately as news organizations review the thousands of Epstein documents released by the Department of Justice, and Lifetouch says on its website that when a student\u2019s photo is taken, \u201cthat image is safeguarded for families and schools, only, with no exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n Lifetouch has called the alleged ties to Epstein \u201ccompletely false.\u201d The company said it is committed to students\u2019 privacy and added that the timeline of events does not support a direct connection: Apollo\u2019s acquisition of Shutterfly came two months after Epstein was jailed on federal sex trafficking charges and a month after his suicide while awaiting trial.<\/p>\n \u201cNo Lifetouch executives have ever had any relationship or contact with Epstein and we have never shared student images with any third party, including Apollo,\u201d the company said in an email. \u201cApollo and its funds also have no role in Lifetouch\u2019s daily operations and have no access to student images.\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein and Black intersected as far back as 2001, when Epstein served as the director of Black\u2019s family foundation, a family statement in the Epstein files shows. Emails and texts in the trove of documents released by the Justice Department show the two had meetings over the years and indicate that Black received financial advice from Epstein. Black\u2019s full name appears in the Epstein files<\/a> more than 8,200 times, though some records may be duplicative. <\/p>\n Through his attorneys, Black declined to comment on Lifetouch. Citing health problems<\/a> that he said were exacerbated by the public scrutiny over his dealings with Epstein, Black left Apollo Global Management in 2021, two years after the fund acquired Lifetouch\u2019s parent company. <\/p>\n Black\u2019s lawyer, Susan Estrich, has previously denied wrongdoing on his behalf.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, some families with schoolchildren feel uncomfortable. <\/p>\n East Texas mother Brittney McLain, who has three daughters, said she asked her children\u2019s school to cut ties with Lifetouch after she read about Shutterfly and Apollo\u2019s connection. When her kids\u2019 district, Malakoff Independent School District, announced last week that it was canceling Lifetouch\u2019s spring portraits, McLain was relieved \u2014 despite previously trusting the Lifetouch brand. <\/p>\n \u201cIt just feels tainted,\u201d she said in a phone interview. \u201cYou have images, plus kids, plus data, that exist anywhere near corruption, and most parents \u2014 especially mothers \u2014 want distance.\u201d<\/p>\n Social media posts linking Lifetouch to Epstein and to broader conspiracy theories began to take off earlier this month. In one post on Feb. 3<\/a>, an X account sympathetic to the unfounded QAnon<\/a> and Pizzagate conspiracy theories<\/a> posted an 18-minute video that claimed Lifetouch, along with several other major brands, including Chuck E. Cheese, were part of a global child trafficking ring connected to Epstein. (In an email, Chuck E. Cheese said \u201cThere is no story here\u201d and said its CEO was in the Epstein files only on a forwarded list of conference speakers<\/a> from 2018.) <\/p>\n NBC News identified several Feb. 5 posts<\/a> on Facebook and X<\/a> from accounts with as many as 324,000 followers that alleged photos of children taken by Lifetouch were at risk. Many Facebook posts used identical language, urging parents to \u201cAsk questions\u201d and \u201cProtect your kids.\u201d One X post<\/a> alone received 1.4 million views.<\/p>\n![\"Leon](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-02\/260217-leon-black-vl-1026a-5dcd8c.jpg\")
![\"Brittney](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-02\/260217-brittney-mclain-vl-1120a-089bea.jpg\")