A furious Callum Hudson-Odoi has bizarrely been forced to address – and deny – claims on social media that he was a part of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The 23-year-old Nottingham Forest star took to Instagram on Thursday to clarify that he has never been associated with Epstein after a list circulating online claimed he and many other celebrities had visited the pedophile's private island.
Hudson-Odoi's statement comes after the news that a list of disgraced financier Epstein's associates from court filings is set to be made public in the first few days of 2024.
It has led to people to speculate online as to who will be named in the files, with Twitter users publishing a list – including former Chelsea star Hudson-Odoi and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta – of those claiming to be linked with Epstein.
However, the list is actually the names of celebrities who contracted Covid-19 early in the pandemic in 2020, with Hudson-Odoi and Arteta some of the first big-name sportsmen to contract the virus.
After being linked with Epstein, Hudson-Odoi wrote on Instagram: 'I have seen this circulating around social media for a while now, and I wasn't going to comment on it as it is absurd (and I would've been a child at the time); however, understanding my position as a role model, I would like to make it absolutely clear that I have never been part of the Epstein scandal nor have l ever been to Epstein island; so please stop tagging me in these posts. Thank you.'
The identities of dozens of well-known figures linked to Epstein have been revealed in court papers unsealed in the US overnight.
The files are part of a defamation case brought against Epstein's madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in jail for sex trafficking underage girls to him.
She was sued by Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York three times in 2001 when she was 17 - claims the duke vehemently denies.
High-profile people such as Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Kevin Spacey and Stephen Hawking were all included in evidence filings.
Actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz and Bruce Willis are in there along with model Naomi Campbell.
None of them have been accused of any involvement in Epstein's crimes, but Epstein was a name-dropper, Johanna Sjoberg claimed in evidence released overnight. Ms Sjoberg was clear that she had never met them.
Also mentioned are the late physicist Stephen Hawking and magician David Copperfield.
Some of the people named overnight were associates, friends or victims of Epstein. But the vast majority were named in evidence by witnesses who said they had no links to the paedophile at all - or had not seen them at his many homes.
The identities of more than 170 people are now set to be made public following a US judge's order last month, with the first tranche of documents released last night.
They are set to be released on a rolling basis this week. However inclusion of a name does not necessarily mean they were accused of any wrongdoing, with some names simply put to witnesses who denied meeting them.
Hudson-Odoi left Chelsea earlier this season after failing to break into the first team, while he spent last season out on loan at Bayer Leverkusen.
So far, Hudson-Odoi has made 12 appearances in all competitions for Forest, with 11 of them coming in the Premier League. He has a goal and an assist to his name this campaign.
Hudson-Odoi scored 16 goals in 126 games for the Blues and has picked up three England caps.