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There are few universal truths in life: death, taxes, and rich people having connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
And despite how much he may deny connections, including a thousand mentions in the Epstein files, President Donald Trump’s ties to the infamous New York City financier/sex trafficker continue to emerge. Most recently, internet sleuths called out the identity of an apparent friend of Epstein’s as one of the ribbon-cutters for the unveiling of Doral’s golden Trump statue last week. Democrat-leaning social media account Fact Post was among the first to point out one of the ribbon-cutters was child actor-turned crypto billionaire Brock Pierce.
Pierce, who played young Gordon in the first two Mighty Ducks movies, appears nearly 2,000 times in the Epstein files released late January. According to the documents on the Department of Justice’s website, Pierce exchanged scores of emails with Epstein discussing topics like meetings, bitcoin, and rendezvous with “the girls.”
In one email sent from Pierce to Epstein in 2012, he writes, “I had a great time with the girls. Hope they had fun too. Thanks. Best regards, Brock.”
Pierce could not be reached for comment, despite attempts by email.
A representative for Pierce told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 that the former actor saw Epstein after a meeting “a few times over the intervening years at industry events, where many other prominent people were present. The few communications that Mr. Pierce had with Epstein related to cryptocurrency.”
Outside of his appearance and important role in the ribbon-cutting, it’s unclear how closely connected to the statue project Pierce was — even to the artist himself. Ohio-based sculptor Alan Cottrill tells New Times he isn’t sure what Pierce’s role was, but the two crypto acolytes he did deal with mentioned Pierce many times.
Ashley Sansalone (a cryptocurrency developer based in Canada) and Dustin Stockton (a Republican strategist) teamed up with a group of other crypto bros to pay Cottrill $500,000 for the creation of a Trump statue based on the fist pump he gave after the July 2024 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, Cottrill previously told New Times. If Stockon’s name sounds familiar, it’s because authorities raided his property in connection with allegations that he was involved in defrauding donors of former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s effort to crowdfund the southern border wall in Trump’s first term.
Pierce is also seemingly close to Trump. After running as an independent presidential candidate in 2020, he was seen at Trump’s second inauguration showing off what appears to be an early miniature model of Cottrill’s statue. In one instagram post, Pierce is pictured beside fighter Conor McGregor (second from the left, holding the sculpture) and Pastor Mark Burns (the man who made headlines for emceeing the statue unveiling in Doral, for insisting it’s not a golden calf, and for appearing in an ill-advised Q&A with The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner.)
