No AI or Digital Editing Here: This Photo of Elon Musk and Ghislaine Maxwell Is Real

For several years, social media users have shared a genuine photograph of Tesla CEO Elon Musk standing in front of Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

For example, in mid-December 2024, a Reddit user posted the picture with the caption, “CEO Elon Musk with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, March 2, 2014.”

The photo is real. It is not the product of artificial intelligence software or digital editing. It shows a genuine moment with Musk and Maxwell at the Vanity Fair Oscars party on March 2, 2014.

Musk Claims Maxwell ‘Photobombed’ Him

On July 2, 2020, an X user asked Musk about the photograph of him with Maxwell. In response, he wrote: “Don’t know Ghislaine at all. She photobombed me once at a Vanity Fair party several years ago. Real question is why VF invited her in the first place.” (For the unaware, photobombing is the act of posing behind someone in a picture without their knowledge.)

A spokesperson for Musk reportedly said something similar to The New York Times: “Ghislaine simply inserted herself behind him in a photo he was posing for without his knowledge.”

On July 4, 2020, Musk again addressed the picture, asking why Maxwell had been invited to the Vanity Fair Oscars party.

We reached out to Vanity Fair in 2022 to ask about Maxwell’s presence at the party but did not receive a response.

Background on Epstein’s Death, Maxwell’s Conviction

On July 6, 2019, federal officials arrested Epstein on charges of sex trafficking and engaging in sex acts with underage girls. According to The Associated Press, he previously agreed to a secret plea deal that ended a federal investigation that could have landed him in prison for life.

Then, on Aug. 10, jail guards found Epstein dead in his cell. According to a medical examiner’s autopsy report, Epstein died as a result of a suicide by hanging. His death set off a wave of new conspiracy theories.

As for Maxwell, CNN reported that a jury in late 2021 found her guilty of five federal charges, including “sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy.”

Photos of the 2014 Vanity Fair Party

According to the Getty Images website, WireImage photographer Kevin Mazur captured at least 565 pictures at the party, including the one of Musk and Maxwell.

Another WireImage photographer, Jeff Vespa, made available for licensing 585 additional pictures of the party. Out of 1,150 total photographs from the event, only the in-question picture showed Musk and Maxwell. No other evidence suggested the two had conversed or greeted each other at the function.

The full-length picture of Musk and Maxwell from the Getty Images website. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/VF14/WireImage)

Mazur also captured pictures of Maxwell speaking with someone referred to as a “guest.” Meanwhile, only one other photograph showed Musk at the party — an image of him with his wife at the time, actor Talulah Riley, and actor Sacha Baron Cohen.

In 2021, a fake cover of Time magazine featuring the photo of Musk and Maxwell circulated as purported evidence of the publication naming them its annual “person of the year.” USA Today reported on the misleading use of the photograph. Time awarded the honor only to Musk that year.

Additionally, the Australian website news.com.au has published details of past purported interactions between Musk and Epstein before his death.