No, Oprah was not wearing an ‘ankle monitor’ during his interview with Meghan Markle

Did you see Oprah’s bombshell interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry? More than 17 million people watched.

And while there have been a number of major revelations, conspiracy theorists have focused on one big thing: what appears to be an ankle monitor under Oprah’s boot.

Of course, Oprah is probably no using an ankle monitor. After all, how could Oprah Winfrey, one of the most famous people in the whole world, have been arrested and sentenced to house arrest without anyone knowing? Still, some photos from the interview are circulating and appear to show a lump on the side of Oprah’s boot – probably a simple crease in her shoe material – and that’s all it takes for this misinformation to spread.

Why do people believe Oprah is wearing an ankle monitor?

It may not be surprising to know that this conspiracy theory is strongly promoted by believers.

“It is important in QAnon because it promotes the narrative that bandits are being arrested and will soon be tried / executed,” Mike Rains, who follows the conspiracy theories and presents the podcast, told Mashable. “It is proof that the good guys are winning and that their enemies are about to be exposed by the monsters they are.”

Followers of QAnon, the extremely popular right-wing conspiracy theory, believe that former President Donald Trump is fighting a global network of satanic trafficking run by baby-eating pedophiles within the Democratic Party and the Hollywood elite. Many QAnon believers say that Trump is still secretly the president and is giving the cards to overthrow these politicians and celebrities.

All of these are lies and falsehoods, of course, but people who believe in conspiracy theory have really believed in everything.

Why does QAnon see Oprah as a villain?

It is no surprise that believers in a right-wing conspiracy theory saw a liberal-minded “Hollywood elitist” like Oprah as a “bad guy”.

However, the reason for targeting Oprah specifically is largely due to the lies on the internet that they considered to be true – and that follows from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case.

When billionaire Jeffery Epstein was arrested in 2019 and accused of sex trafficking in minors, conspiracy theorists attacked the case. A real-life elitist with ties to powerful politicians and celebrities like Bill Clinton and QAnon’s hero, Donald Trump, was being arrested for sexual crimes.

This was not a conspiracy theory. Epstein’s arrest was real. Their victims existed and could speak. In many ways, Epstein’s arrest (and subsequent death) validated his complicated theories. The cherry on top? Epstein kept a flight record of who flew his private plane, nicknamed “Lolita Express”, and visited his private island, Little Saint James, where many of the crimes allegedly occurred.

The Epstein flight record is available free online. Anyone can view it and see names like the ones mentioned earlier Clinton and Trump, inscribed in their handwriting.

Still, a false “flight record” typed by computer – essentially, just a list of names of famous people – was. QAnon’s believers swallowed it all up, sharing the false information as truth. Names like Tom Hanks, Madonna, Ellen DeGeneres, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Lady Gaga and, of course, Oprah Winfrey were all on the fake list of celebrities who flew on Epstein’s plane to Little Saint James. None of them appeared in Epstein’s actual flight records.

Being on that false list, however, meant that these celebrities were guilty, as accused by QAnon’s followers. Chrissy Teigen, for example, was relentlessly online by people who believe in these falsehoods. Last year, new conspiracies spread quickly about celebrities being arrested for trafficking crimes.

“When the COVID blocks hit Ellen, it was suspected that she was using an ankle monitor,” explained Rains. “Now Oprah is wearing one and everyone is very excited about it.”

How the ankle monitor theory fuels QAnon fire

As Rains pointed out to me, even within the context of his own conspiracies, the ankle monitor theory doesn’t make sense. These are the same conspiracy theorists who believe that powerful people like Bill Gates are injecting and nanorobots into our bodies through the COVID-19 vaccines. However, the technology for Ellen and Oprah only comes in the form of a large, bulky device that physically connects to the ankle.

But, regardless of the logic, hearing that your enemies are being punished feeds only the QAnon conspirators. Many followers cling to something, anything that validates their elaborate belief system. QAnon’s influencers, who promote these conspiracy theories for money and fame within the community, also know this.

“Almost all of the major QAnon prosecutors work with the ankle monitor,” explains Rains. “It is catnip for its audience because, as distorted as it may seem, QAnon is a movement based on hope and looking for signs of its impending vindication is great content.”

The Harry and Meghan interview is not even the first time that conspiracy theorists claim Oprah wears an ankle monitor.

Last year, during the first few months of coronavirus blockades in the United States, conspiracy theorists claimed that Oprah was wearing an ankle monitor in a home cooking video that the media mogul posted on social media. The snapshots posted online clearly show a crease in Oprah’s pants, but for the conspiratorial thinker … it was an ankle monitor.

Oprah, herself, even had to post a to her Twitter account, stating that her home was broken into by the police and she was arrested last March.

For those who were aware of Oprah’s previous ankle monitor theory, watching Harry and Meghan’s interview felt like a validation of their beliefs, proof that she is wearing an ankle monitor all the time.

And if Oprah can be taken down, anyone is at his disposal. Any notable person caught in a single frame in a dimly lit ensemble with a shirt crease can become the latest “pedophile” overthrown by Trump.

“This confirms the narrative that the bandits are being arrested and will soon be tried / executed,” says Rains. “It is proof that the good guys are winning and that their enemies are about to be exposed by the monsters they are.”