Lifetouch, the company that takes school photos for millions of American kids, and has for decades, is now facing canceled photo days and district investigations after parents connected the dots between the photography giant and Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle.
The link: Leon Black, the billionaire who ran Apollo Global Management until 2021. Apollo owns Shutterfly, which owns Lifetouch. Black stepped down as CEO after an investigation revealed he’d transferred millions of dollars to Epstein between 2012 and 2017.
He’s also faced sexual assault lawsuits related to Epstein, though he hasn’t been criminally charged and denies wrongdoing.
Schools are cancelling Picture Day because of a wave of concerned parents who don't trust the school photo company Lifetouch after they've been tied to Epstein via billionaire Leon Black pic.twitter.com/vmFgBGRZEu
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) February 12, 2026
Several school districts have now launched investigations. Clifton Public Schools, one of New Jersey’s largest districts, sent a letter to parents Wednesday acknowledging the concerns. A charter school in Arizona went further, canceling picture days altogether “out of an abundance of caution.”
“While we do not have any information indicating a direct impact on our school or our students, our highest responsibility is always the safety, security, and trust of our families,” Prescott Valley Charter School told parents.
The rumors spreading online suggest—without evidence—that Black may have had inappropriate access to children’s photos through his company’s ownership chain. Some have also claimed Lifetouch itself appears in the Epstein files, though the company’s name actually shows up only in a 2019 bank statement belonging to someone involved in the Epstein death investigation.
Lifetouch is pushing back hard. CEO Ken Murphy insisted that “no past or present member of Apollo’s Board of Directors or Apollo’s investors have ever had access to student images, for any purpose.” The company says it follows federal privacy laws and only shares photos with schools and families.
“When Lifetouch photographers take your student’s picture, that image is safeguarded for families and schools, only, with no exceptions,” a spokesperson said.
Parents aren’t buying it. Megan Montanez, whose daughter was photographed by Lifetouch in Clifton, told HuffPost she’s unconvinced proper safeguards exist.
“It’s not a stretch to assume that just because you don’t have a direct role in something that you don’t have access to other functions, especially as someone in a leadership position,” she said.
Montanez wants schools to use local photographers and be more transparent about vetting. The fact that Black’s Epstein connection was public knowledge in 2021 but districts kept using Lifetouch? “Gross oversight,” she called it.
“It’s our job as adults, the community, to come together and protect our kids, especially as more information comes out about all the things that the DOJ is attempting to cover up.”