Fayette schools join KY districts who have ‘paused’ picture day vendor amid Epstein claims

Fayette County Public Schools has joined several school districts in Kentucky that have temporarily stopped using a prominent company for school photos after widespread online claims linked the vendor to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Lifetouch, a well-known photo company that takes school pictures for millions of children every year, has been wrapped up in widespread online claims linking the company to Leon Black, a billionaire investor who regularly met with Epstein and was named more than 8,000 times in a bevy of new Epstein-related documents released this month by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Fayette County Public Schools has paused any current or future use of Lifetouch services until a thorough review of the matter has been completed,” district spokeswoman Miranda Scully told the Herald-Leader Friday afternoon.

Scully did not immediately answer additional questions from the Herald-Leader about whether any scheduled school picture days had been canceled or how many Fayette County Public Schools used Lifetouch services.

Why Lifetouch has been linked to billionaire investor

An Associated Press report indicated Lifetouch was linked to an investment fund manager called Apollo Global Management, which was owned by Black, and purchased Lifetouch’s parent company, Shutterfly, in 2019. Black stepped down as CEO of Apollo in 2021, but he was leading the fund in 2019 when the sale happened.

The AP reported that several school districts nationwide canceled spring picture day due to widespread online claims that linked Lifetouch to Apollo.

The recent reports have caused the Kentucky Education Development Corporation, a cooperative that helps Kentucky schools secure contracts for services such as picture day, pause its Lifetouch agreements.

“Out of an abundance of caution and in alignment with our commitment to student wellbeing, KEDC has suspended any current or future use of Lifetouch services until a thorough review and deeper investigation into the matter has been completed,” KEDC officials said.

Lifetouch says claimed connections to Epstein are ‘completely false’

Lifetouch Group CEO Ken Murphy said in a statement last week the claims were “completely false,” and he assured school districts that no student photographs had been distributed to third parties.

“Lifetouch is not named in the Epstein files,” Murphy said. “The documents contain no allegations that Lifetouch itself was involved in, or that student photos were used in, any illicit activities.”

A Lifetouch spokesperson later reiterated in a statement to the Herald-Leader that the claims about Lifetouch being connected to Epstein are “completely false.”

“No Lifetouch executives have ever had any relationship or contact with Epstein and we have never shared student images with any third party, including Apollo,” the company’s statement said.

“Apollo and its funds also have no role in Lifetouch’s daily operations and have no access to student images,” the statement said. “In fact, Apollo funds did not acquire Shutterfly, Lifetouch’s parent company, until September 2019 — two months after Epstein was put in jail and a month after Epstein’s death.”

Laurel County Schools, which worked with Lifetouch, has canceled spring picture day.

Prior to Laurel County’s decision to cancel its spring picture day, parents in the district started a petition to replace the vendor, Lifetouch, with a local photographer.

Harrison County Public Schools also announced its decision to suspend the use of Lifetouch “pending review.”

On Thursday, Greenup County Schools also said in a Facebook post, ”out of an abundance of caution we are temporarily pausing the use of Lifetouch services while we conduct a review and gather additional information.”