At least ten school districts across four states have either paused or canceled contracts with Lifetouch — the largest school photography company in the nation — after links between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former CEO of the company’s ownership group were discovered.
These links were based on over 8,000 mentions of Leon Black, CEO of Apollo Global Management (Apollo) in the Epstein files.
Apollo acquired Shutterfly, the parent company of Lifetouch, in September 2019 — about one month after Epstein’s death .
Yet, word of the alleged affiliation quickly spread to social media, where people started generating rumors about children’s school pictures being shared across the dark web.
Lifetouch has maintained that their corporate structure provides a total firewall between student data and the investment firm.
Ken Murphy, Lifetouch Group CEO, released a public statement affirming that “Lifetouch does not – and has never — provided images to any third party,”
“Funds managed by subsidiaries of [Apollo] are investors in Shutterfly, the parent company of Lifetouch,” the statement reads. “Neither Apollo nor its funds are involved in the day-to-day operations of Lifetouch and therefore no one employed by Apollo has ever had access to any student images.”
In California, schools are stepping forward to assure parents of the rumour’s basis.
Salinas School District, which has a contract with Lifetouch, sent a statement to families, saying the social media rumors, though — “disturbing” — were false on February 11.
“The safety and security of our children is the district’s most important concern, and we want to reassure you we verify our third party vendors adhere to the same safety standards,” the statement reads.
Schools from across the country, such as one elementary school in Illinois, have done the same.
Others, however — such as one school district in Pennsylvania — have made the decision to distance or completely cancel their contracts with Lifetouch in light of the controversy
In a statement addressing the cancellations, the company claimed that daily operations and intellectual property were never shared with third parties, including Apollo.
“At Lifetouch, student safety goes beyond the camera lens,” Murphy wrote. “As a trusted partner to schools for 90 years, we’re committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of every student.”
Other companies are also getting caught up in the have experienced similar situations, notably the Glover Park Group, which was the subject of social media controversy after being mentioned twice in an email that did not implicate them in Epstein’s crimes.
Lifetouch has maintained that no pictures have been shared with third parties, with Murphy describing this promise as a fact among a “a sea of misinformation.”