A previously recorded interview with comic Chris Tucker resurfaced this week after newly launched Epstein Files included pictures exhibiting Tucker alongside former President Bill Clinton, renewing public scrutiny round figures related to financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The feedback, initially made throughout a 2021 Zoom interview, started circulating extensively on Dec. 20 as consideration intensified on Epstein’s previous associations. In the interview, Tucker addressed his restricted interplay with Epstein after being requested straight whether or not he knew him.

“I did, I did,” Tucker mentioned, earlier than explaining the circumstances of their encounter. He described assembly Epstein throughout what he characterised as a humanitarian journey to Africa that included Clinton and different outstanding people.

“You know, we flew, Bill Clinton and a lot of different, well, that was a humanitarian trip to Africa,” Tucker mentioned. He emphasised that Epstein’s function was tied to transportation, not private affiliation. “I met him on that trip because it was his plane,” Tucker added.

Tucker mentioned he was unaware on the time that the plane belonged to Epstein. “I didn’t know who plane we was getting on,” he mentioned, noting that the journey included a broader delegation. “It was a whole bunch of dignitary people who was with a delegation.”

The actor careworn that his interplay with Epstein was restricted to that setting and that he had no information of Epstein’s personal conduct. “You don’t know people and what they do in their private lives,” Tucker mentioned. “So yeah, I’ve met him.”

Chris Tucker’s 2021 Interview About Traveling With Jeffrey Epstein Resurfaces After Epstein Files Drop

When requested whether or not he had ever visited Epstein’s personal island, a focus of a number of allegations tied to Epstein’s felony case, Tucker forcefully denied it. Laughing, he replied, “No, no, no, uh, uh. I don’t know where that thing at.”

The resurfaced interview gained renewed traction after photographs from the Epstein Files confirmed Tucker in proximity to Clinton, prompting hypothesis on social media. However, Tucker’s statements within the interview stay constant together with his earlier public place that his contact with Epstein was transient and incidental.

Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019, had longstanding connections with highly effective figures throughout politics, enterprise and leisure. In latest months, the discharge of further paperwork and pictures has prompted renewed examination of these ties, even when no wrongdoing has been alleged.

Tucker has not commented publicly because the interview resurfaced. His remarks underscore a recurring theme amongst public figures whose names have appeared in Epstein-related supplies: acknowledgment of restricted contact paired with agency denials of deeper involvement.

As extra archival materials continues to floor, previous statements like Tucker’s are being reevaluated in a broader effort to know the scope of Epstein’s community and the character of his associations.