In July 2025, a
photograph circulated online purportedly showing former U.S. President Barack Obama drinking beer with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The picture was allegedly taken in a Southeast Asian country,
according to
numerous posts. One X user's caption
read: "It was buried by the press, but not only were Obama and Jeffrey Epstein friends, they traveled around Thailand together, in search of 'the perfect spring roll'."
However, the photo above does not show Obama drinking a beer with Epstein. The man drinking alongside the former president is the late chef and television personality
Anthony Bourdain. As such, we have rated this picture as miscaptioned.
The authentic photo was taken while Bourdain was
interviewing Obama in a small restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam — not Thailand — for his show "Parts Unknown" in 2016 (
archived). They had a dish called bún chả while drinking beer.