The release of thousands of pages of the court documents of Jeffrey Epstein by the U.S. Department of Justice has reignited a digital firestorm. In the midst of these grave allegations and other high-profile names, the word "pizza" appears over 900 times in the files. It originated from the Code Theory.
The obsession with the pizza emoji and the word itself derives from the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory that first went viral in 2016. The theory, which advocates the idea that “pizza” (usually ‘pizza emoji’ in current social media shorthand), and “cheese pizza” (CP), are coded expressions used by planetary elites for discussions of child exploitation. This year’s 2026 Epstein document dump found tons of emails with subject lines, including:
"Who wants pizza in Austin?" or “Headcount for pizza party,” these communities latched onto them as “smoking gun” evidence of a larger cabal. What the Files Actually Show. Despite the online frenzy, a closer look at the context of these mentions gives a much more pedestrian explanation:
- Event logistics: Many of the “pizza” mentions appear in emails between Epstein’s staff (think Sarah Kellen or Adriana Ross) and domestic workers. They generally describe food orders for pilots, security forces and attendees awaiting at airports or in mansions.
- The Palm Beach Call: Donald Trump said that "everyone" knew about Epstein's behavior, according to the unsealed FBI summary of the case involving former Police Chief Michael Reiter. Although conspiracy theorists have attempted to connect this to language more akin to 'code', the official papers show no evidence that emojis or the word pizza were used as anything other than literal food references in the inquiry into Epstein's actions.
The "Mette-Marit" Connection
Fueling the fire is also emails from Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. During one 2011 exchange, she described how she had “googled” Epstein and not been impressed, supposedly putting an emoji in the context. Although the specific emoji was not a slice of pizza, the mere presence of “emoji ambiguity” in the files has caused theorists to conclude that all “food” and “symbol” mentions belong in the same suspicious category.
The Verdict
Although the Epstein files provide graphic evidence of systemic abuse and high-level negligence, experts and investigators say the “pizza” mentions are a textbook example of apophenia the human propensity to understand meaningful patterns in disparate, random data. Victims’ families also see the obsession with "pizza codes" a distraction from the actual crimes and searches for legal accountability.
