Sources: Fallon's Sauce Venture Nixed Thanks to Epstein Files

Jimmy Fallon's foray into the pasta aisle just boiled over. A planned line of sauces that the late-night host was developing with veteran music executive Tommy Mottola has been scrapped, as newly released Epstein files highlight Mottola's long-running ties to Jeffrey Epstein, per The Hollywood Reporter. The project, still in the early stages and eyed for as late as 2027, is now definitely nixed, one source tells the outlet. Page Six notes that the effort is now on "pause," with one source adding, "Nobody wants to be within 50 feet of anyone in the Epstein files."

Those files—hundreds of gigabytes of documents, emails, photos, and video made public under a congressional mandate—show Mottola appearing in roughly 600 records released so far, including info on travel arrangements, visits to Epstein's properties, and messages amid the #MeToo era in which he allegedly wrote he needed to "shut up and lay low," per THR. Mottola, a former Sony Music chief who helped propel Celine Dion and his ex-wife Mariah Carey to superstardom, has so far seen only the sauce venture with Fallon collapse, even as other industry figures named in the records face mounting calls to step aside. The Daily Beast features some of the messages exchanged between Mottola and Epstein and his staff. Reps for Fallon and Mottola declined to comment.