Outside of perhaps Watergate, no “-gate” scandal has quite captured national attention quite like Pizzagate.
Pizzagate was a conspiracy theory that exploded online during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, alleging that a child sex-trafficking ring involving prominent Democratic officials was being run out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong.
The theory grew out of hacked and leaked emails from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, which conspiracy-minded users on forums and social media interpreted as containing coded references to abuse.
Despite repeated denials, the story spread rapidly across platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube.
The consequences turned from online rumor to real-world danger in December 2016, when a man armed with a rifle went to the restaurant to “investigate” the claims and fired shots inside. Thankfully, no one was injured.
Authorities declared there was no truth to the allegations and said the pizzeria had no connection to any trafficking operation. Pizzagate has since become a textbook example of how conspiracy theories can take on a life all their own via social media and political polarization.
All these years later, the story still hasn’t completely died off, due to critics who mock its existence and true believers who still feel that something sinister is afoot.
And the Jeffrey Epstein files appear poised to rip open this sealed pizza box anew.
As the Department of Justice has unsealed troves of documents related to the convicted sex offender, it has given countless intrepid minds the chance to dig into the files themselves.
And for the more conspiratorial-minded, a simple keyword search for “pizza” in the search bar yielded plenty of food for thought.
There are 849 results within the Epstein files when you search specifically for “pizza” — and even more details when you dig in deeper.
Reporter Tom Elliott is one such investigative mind. He uncovered an odd fascination for discussing pizza among Epstein and “his friends.”
Thread: Epstein emails related to he & his friends’ enthusiasm for pizza … pic.twitter.com/2MvO7L4AT6
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 6, 2026
“As always, I am not making any claims,” Elliott said in one of the posts on the multi-post thread. “Just reporting what I find as I dig through these files.”
Even the staunchest deniers of Pizzagate would feel compelled to admit that Epstein and his associates sure do have a weird thing for “pizza.”
Vanity Fair similarly reported on this unusual love of pizza, and dug up some interesting quotes.
“What time do you want to get pizza and grape soda tomorrow?” one 2018 correspondence to Epstein read.
There was a 2015 email with the subject line: “Your Pizza Is YUMMY YUMMY!!”
“This is better than a Chinese cookie!… lets go for pizza and grape soda again. No one else can understand,” a different 2018 correspondence read.
(Of note, “grape” is a euphemism for “rape” often used by online content creators who want to avoid getting dinged on social media.)
Vanity Fair reported that “Pizzagate” searches spiked over the weekend following these documents’ release, proving that interest in the conspiracy theory remains high all these years later.
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