A thousand miles off the coast of Florida, influencers have found the secret to instant virality.
One after another, content creators are finding their way to Little Saint James, better known as the private island once owned by the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Armed with cameras, they are capitalizing on and propellingincreased interestin revelations from the latest release of the Epstein files — a series of disclosures made by the Justice Department revealing partially redacted documents that were aggregated and produced during its investigation into Epstein. The disgraced financier died by suicide in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Out of over 15 YouTube videos NBC News reviewed of people filming their expeditions to Little Saint James, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, at least nine were posted this year, some within days of each other.
The videos have become increasingly popular and have accumulated more than 52 million views in total.
Most of the videos run a similar course. Content creators fly to St. Thomas, the closest neighboring island with an airport, and upon their arrival, speak to locals to get tips and rumors about Little Saint James.
From there, they scope out local Jet Ski and snorkel rentals and swim onto the island's shore or fly drones over it.
The YouTubers are motivated by the online engagement that comes with all things Epstein, but also by various online theories about the island and unanswered questions about its role in Epstein's web of sexual abuse of women and girls.
The trips to the island do not appear to be sanctioned or approved by its latest owner, billionaireStephen Deckoff, who boughtLittle Saint James and a neighboring island Epstein owned known as Great Saint James for $60 million in 2023. In apress release detailing the purchase,Deckoff had plans to develop a "state-of-the-art, five-star, world-class luxury 25-room resort" that was slated to open last year.
A spokesperson for the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources said in a statement to NBC News that it has not "received any plans for the development of a resort on either Little or Great Saint James as of March 2026." Deckoff's asset management firm, Black Diamond Capital Management, did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Coast Guard deferred NBC News to the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department for comment. The police department didn't respond to a request for comment.
YouTuber Ben Lisi, whoposted a video attempting to go to the islandin February, told NBC News that he opted not to attempt to step on the island because of the legal concerns: "the island is owned by a new person now, so, I don't really know much about them, but I did obviously want to respect that."
But others were willing to take on the risk. Jordan-based YouTuber Ahmad Aburobmade a videothat's now been viewed more than 15 million times, which shows him stepping onto the island and approaching a structure that's been dubbed the "temple."
"I actually went in very quickly to do that video because I knew it will go viral, and I know it really fits my usual content," he said. For eight of the YouTubers who have made Little Saint James videos, including Aburob, their videos visiting the island are in their top five most-viewed videos.
With the latest release of the Epstein files under the Trump administration, interest in the convicted sex offender has surged dramatically in the past month. Searches for "Little James Island" and "Epstein Island" reached an all-time high in February, according toGoogle Trends data.
"The latest release of Epstein files, that created a trend, and that trend caused YouTubers to go there to kind of ride on that trend," Aburob said.
He said that he wanted to attempt to visit the island after seeing videos fromcontent creators Nico GriggandTyler Oliveiradoing the same, and said he wanted to step onto the island after seeing Grigg only reach the surrounding waters. (He had complained about stepping on sea urchins while approaching the shore.)
Aburob said that he thinks many of the videos are a mix between manufactured drama and genuine curiosity.
"It's a mix of both," he said. "As a content creator, it's your job to create a very entertaining piece. So it's okay to latch on to whatever drama you can find while doing the experience, in my opinion."
Several of the creators who went to the island are known for their prank videos or for their content exploring government conspiracy theories, but some have said that their videos exploring the island are unlike their typical content.
"I know this is a different side, it's not really me pranking," YouTuber Junior Sangaresaid in his video. He took a Jet Ski near the island but ended up not going onto it, but told his followers: "100 thousand likes — on my life — I will come back here, ding-dong ditch this building, and spend the night on this island without trying to get caught." He is 25,000 likes away from his goal as of Wednesday.
Lisi said that he hoped the video could raise awareness about the Epstein case while still being "light hearted and still adventurous" for his younger audience.
"Even though it's just a silly video, and we didn't actually sneak on the island or anything, but we just saw it, I think it still brings more attention to it," Lisi said. "And hopefully, in some small way, can bring justice to the victims and help expose or continue to bring to light what's going on behind closed doors."
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What many have referred to as the "temple" has been a spot of particular interest for YouTubers visiting the island. In recent videos where YouTubers have made it up close to the structure, it appears to have been painted over and boarded up.
"Ungodly things happened here, it feels so weird being here," YouTuber Ash Alk said as he walked around the templein his videoreleased in late February.
Permit recordsshow that the structure was pitched as a music pavilion, complete with a grand piano, living room and bathroom inside. But the building's final design ended up much different than the original designs included in the records. There is limited information on what the building was actually used for.
Other content creators focused on different aspects of the island. In his video, Lisiwas set on finding potential tunnelsunder Epstein's island. It has not been confirmed if tunnels had actually been built under the island, but insome recently released documentsoutlining tasks on Little Saint James, a "tunnel" is mentioned, giving rise to online speculation. He told NBC News he hadn't seen any tunnels while he was there.
In eight of the videos from this year, the influencers appear to use the same Jet Ski rental service, Coastal Water Sports, to make their treks to the island. A man who appears in the videos addresses the popularity of YouTubers visiting the island, telling Lisi: "Not more YouTubers."
In the videos, the man seems aware of people's plans to visit the island but often discourages them from going.
"No, don't go there," the man says to Oliveirain his video. "It's somebody's island." The YouTubers appear to still use the Jet Skis to go toward the island and are shown in the videos signing papers.
But Jet Ski trips to Little Saint James don't appear to be part of Coastal Water Sports' marketing strategy and aren't promoted on its social media, beyondposting pictures with Griggs and YouTuber Matt Batista, who went on a trip together,as well as Lisi and Sangare. When reached for comment through the number on the company's website about the increased interest from YouTubers, an individual from Coastal Water Sports told NBC News that they were "not authorized to speak on that."
Epstein's other properties have also attracted interest. Many people in the past have hung aroundEpstein's Upper East Side mansionand one couple was accused of attempting tobreak in and steal fromhis New Mexico property, Zorro Ranch.
Andy Bracco made a video that accumulated 1.5 million views of him going to the island in 2020. He said he has alsocamped outside Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell's luxury home in New Hampshire, where she lived up until the point she was arrested in July 2020, around the time Bracco had gone. Maxwell iscurrently serving time in a federal prison in Texas.
"I barely slept through so many noises in the woods. I was so in my head about where I was, I was very nervous," Bracco said. "I went in. I got some shots of the house from up close, shots that no one has. And then I even looked inside. There was a champagne-colored Lexus, RX 350, like a SUV. So if you're wondering what she drove, I guess that's her vehicle."
He said that he has had interest in walking outside Epstein's properties in New York, but hasn't done so.
For his trip to the island, Bracco said he spent upwards of 60 days doing research on how to enter it discreetly, and how to find someone to take him. He said that since he's gone, many creators have come to him for advice on how to get on the island.
"I think it's going to unfortunately become a bit of a trend," he said. "It was easier, but now it's probably going to get harder, they're going to start to wrap up their security a little bit, just because of the frequency of people trying to get on the island."
Epstein initiallybought Little Saint James island in 1998and then purchased Great Saint James in 2016. Following his death in 2019, theFBI conducted a raidon Little Saint James. Epstein's estateowned the propertyuntil it was put up for sale in 2022.
Prior to Bracco's 2020 visit, Luke Rudkowskifilmed himself going onto the islandshortly after the FBI raid for his channel We Are Change.
Rudkowski told NBC News that he chose to go to the island after seeing a drone video of the property that captured footage of someone who he thought looked similar to Epstein.
"I found it to be something that was incredibly important for public interest," he said.
When Rudkowski had gone to the island, it still had lots of furniture and decorations left behind by Epstein. Rudkowski filmed himself walking inside rooms and different structures on the island and looking outside the then-painted temple. He said that what had caught his eye while he was there was the odd furniture and what appeared to be gargoyle statues that were scattered around. Epstein also had white gargoyle statues in front of his Palm Beach home, according to recently released files.
Rudkowski said that he has seen some of the recent videos of people going onto the island, but has mixed emotions about it.
"When there's so much that the government hasn't given us answers to, people are going to naturally try to fill that void," he said. "But if we had a competent DOJ that actually would have done the proper job here and investigated it, we wouldn't have a lot of these independent content creators using the situation as they are for this type of adventurism that they're highlighting on YouTube."
"But at the same time, I'm the person who kind of did it before anybody else," he added.
While new videos continue to appear, with YouTuber Ali Atfiposting the most recent oneon March 10, the trend might be short-lived. Aburob said he doesn't plan on making any more Epstein-related content, adding that he doesn't "want to be associated with that name."
"I mean, for a YouTuber, it's a very nice trip to make content, but I don't think any normal human being would go, because there's nothing to do," Aburob said. "You just go around and make content. That's it. There's nothing to do if you're not a YouTuber."
A thousand miles off the coast of Florida, influencers have found the secret to instant virality. One after an...
