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Did Ghislaine Maxwell keep horses at her properties in the UK or US?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows the claim that Ghislaine Maxwell kept a horse named “Bubba” is unproven and widely debunked as social-media speculation; fact-checkers and Mark Epstein’s spokesperson say “Bubba” referred to a private person, not a horse, and a fake AP screenshot claiming otherwise was circulated online [1] [2] [3].
1. Viral theory, quick spread
After a 2018 email exchange involving Jeffrey Epstein and his brother Mark was released in 2025, social media users seized on the cryptic phrase mentioning “Bubba,” producing competing theories — including the unusual claim that “Bubba” was a horse owned by Ghislaine Maxwell — and that idea spread rapidly across platforms and tabloids [4] [5] [6].
2. What spokespeople and fact‑checkers say
Mark Epstein’s spokesperson told fact‑checkers the “Bubba” reference was part of a private, humorous exchange and was not about Bill Clinton; that clarification undercut one line of speculation and, according to Lead Stories and other verifications, the spokesperson and Epstein’s camp also rejected claims that the reference concerned Maxwell’s horse [2] [1].
3. Fabricated headlines amplified confusion
A doctored screenshot purporting to be an Associated Press fact check headlined “No, Ghislaine Maxwell did not own a horse named ‘Bubba’” circulated online; Lead Stories and Yahoo’s summary of that hoax demonstrate the image was fake and helped seed further misinformation and counterclaims [1] [3].
4. News organizations treat the horse claim as unsubstantiated
Multiple news outlets and explainers reporting on the “Bubba” mystery explicitly say there is no proof Maxwell owned a horse called Bubba and describe the horse theory as unverified or dismissed; these outlets lean on statements from Epstein’s camp and the absence of credible records linking Maxwell to a horse with that name [6] [7] [8].
5. Why the “horse” story seemed plausible to some readers
Reporters note Maxwell’s documented interest in horses can lend superficial plausibility to claims tying her to an equine named Bubba, which helps explain why the horse rumor gained traction despite lacking evidence; pundits and social posts exploited that plausibility to entertain conspiratorial lines of thinking [8] [5].
6. Limits of available reporting — what we do not know
Available sources do not provide any official registry entries, stable records, or firsthand reporting that Maxwell owned a horse named Bubba; no reputable outlet has produced documentary proof of such ownership, and the primary contemporaneous clarifications come from Mark Epstein’s spokesperson rejecting the Clinton and horse interpretations [1] [2].
7. Conflicting narratives and the incentive to amplify
There are competing narratives: social‑media users and some blogs pushed the horse theory to latch onto a sensational angle, while established fact‑checkers and statements from Epstein’s camp debunked it. The incentive to amplify lurid or funny explanations — whether to gain clicks, advance partisan narratives, or sow confusion — is visible across the postings and the fabricated AP imagery [4] [3] [1].
8. Practical takeaway for readers
Treat claims that Maxwell owned a horse named Bubba as unverified and likely false absent firm documentary evidence; rely on verified reporting and spokesperson statements, such as Lead Stories’ fact check and Mark Epstein’s clarification, which explicitly say “Bubba” was not a public figure and the horse interpretation is unsupported [1] [2].
If you want, I can collect and summarize every social‑media post cited by the outlets above or compile the fact‑checker timelines showing when the fake screenshots and rebuttals first appeared.