Man who looks 'just like Jeffrey Epstein' forced to speak out

A man has been forced to deny he is 'Jeffrey Epstein' after a social media clip showed him driving around in Florida.

The American, known only as 'Palm Beach Pete', said he became 'a viral sensation' after Andrew Posey posted a video of him online.

Captioned 'Epstein out here in South Florida' by Andrew Posey, the clip shows Pete driving in a black convertible car with sunglasses on.

"That’s literally Epstein," one person commented, as another added: "Him with the top down is CRAZY."

Pete was forced to address the footage on Instagram under the handle @NotEpstein, which has now been deleted.

"Hey everybody, this is Palm Beach Pete and my video went viral because some dude randomly filmed me while I was driving on I-95, unbeknownst to me. And the next thing I know, I’m a viral sensation," he said.

Appearing on The Nicky Gordo Show to discuss the video, Pete said: “This whole thing is phenomenal. I'm driving down I-95, minding my own business, and some knucklehead films me, and the next thing I know, my phone is blowing up.

“I'm minding my own business. Driving down to play some tennis.

“And the next thing you know, hundreds of millions of views all over the world, phone calls all over the place when it first dropped.”

Pete says it's even getting to the stage where he's getting approached while out with his girlfriend.

“I was out at a restaurant… really nice restaurant with my girlfriend, and she says to me, ‘Those people at the table over there, they're talking about you’.

“So I went over to their table. I said, ‘You guys talking about me?’

“They said, ‘Are you the guy that went viral on the internet?’ I said, ‘Yep, that's me.’ And they wanted to take a photo immediately.

“Then I went to the bar. Bartender wanted to take a photo of me.

“Ran into a friend of mine also sitting at the bar. She introduces me to her friend.

“I introduce myself and snot’s coming out of his nose because he thinks it's so funny that he just met viral Jeffrey Epstein.”

The real Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019, but is still being talked about for a number of reasons.

Suggestions that he did not kill himself are still doing the rounds, while Donald Trump's previous association with him in the 90s and early 2000s remains a talking point.

The newly released Epstein Files include mentions of many public figures such as the former Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Peter Mandelson.

Andrew was arrested last month and was 'released under investigation'. Mandelson was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office last month and was released the following day.

Inclusion in documents does not mean criminal involvement.