Jeffrey Epstein was still welcomed at Hollywood events even after his first arrest

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Many outlets have been rightly concentrating on how the renewed focus on Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes will affect various political figures, including Donald Trump, members of the Trump cabinet, various congressmen and Bill Clinton. But it’s worth noting that Epstein’s tentacles reached into Hollywood too. The Hollywood Reporter did a fascinating and disturbing article about how Epstein was still around Hollywood players and Hollywood events, even after his 2008 plea deal and house-arrest. Some highlights:

On March 20, 2016, guests at Warner Bros.’ Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice premiere in New York began whispering about one man mingling among the A-list crowd. No, it wasn’t the film’s Ben Affleck or Henry Cavill, or Affleck’s hulking bodyguard, who almost knocked over the studio’s former marketing head Sue Kroll as the VIP area became too crowded. The surprised looks were aimed at Jeffrey Epstein, who was being introduced to guests by New York society doyenne Peggy Siegal. When a Warners executive was asked at the time how a highly recognizable level-three registered sex offender landed the hottest ticket in town, the executive offered no comment.

…After serving a 13-month sentence and a subsequent year of house arrest in Palm Beach, Florida, Epstein in late 2010 hosted a dinner party in honor of his friend Prince Andrew at his 71st Street mansion in New York. Among the 15 to 20 guests, the New York Post reported at the time, were Katie Couric, Charlie Rose, Woody Allen, Chelsea Handler and George Stephanopoulos. (A source close to Couric tells THR it was her first and last encounter with Epstein.) Lasagna was served, and Epstein led his guests on a tour of the house; he was wearing jeans and velvet Stubbs & Wootton slippers. Multiple sources say the event was organized by Siegal, who presented it as an opportunity to meet the prince at the largest single-family dwelling in New York City. Given that it was less than two months after Kate Middleton and Prince William’s engagement, interest in the royals was running high. Multiple guests who now decline to speak on the record noted the optics of attending such an event did not raise an eyebrow, in part because the invite came from Siegal. Siegal declined comment.

Even in the post-#MeToo era, Epstein, 66, frequently attended industry events, like the Gotham Awards in November 2017. Amid a climate where figures including Harvey Weinstein and CBS’ Leslie Moonves had instantly become persona non grata for alleged misconduct, Epstein had been convicted and still enjoyed film-world access. As he traveled behind the velvet rope with ease, his alleged co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell was also embraced. At the time of Epstein’s conviction, Maxwell was not charged thanks to a highly controversial nonprosecution agreement.

Despite well-publicized claims that she wrangled teen girls for Epstein and partook in sexual abuse, Maxwell in recent years has been spotted at top-tier awards-season parties in New York and Los Angeles, where she hobnobbed with a pre-scandal Weinstein, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. She even attended the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar bash, posing with the magazine’s editor, Graydon Carter. (Writer Vicky Ward on July 8 accused him of neutering her 2003 profile of Epstein by cutting out on-the-record accusations by two sisters who claimed Epstein sexually assaulted them, one of whom was 16 at the time of the alleged incident. Carter stated recently that he did not “have confidence” in Ward’s reporting.)

Epstein’s little black book, which became part of the public record after his first arrest, contains a who’s who of entertainment figures. In 2015, Gawker published the flight logs from Epstein’s jet, which showed that Kevin Spacey, Chris Tucker and such powerful players as Bill Clinton and investor Ron Burkle took one flight to Africa. A source close to Burkle says he was invited by Clinton, assumed the ride was vetted and flew home on a commercial jet after finding Epstein to be “creepy.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

THR notes that much like all of the high-profile abusers who have been outed in the #MeToo era, Epstein’s high-profile connections and money meant that he was virtually untouchable legally and he was still welcomed to many social events. How gross it is that there were women acting as enablers and co-conspirators to abuse too – it reminds me a lot of the Harvey Weinstein situation, all of it. The biggest difference is that Weinstein preferred to prey on and abuse women above the age of 18. Epstein preyed on, abused and psychologically tortured children. The result was the same, regardless of the victimology: both men were hidden in plain sight.

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72 Responses to “Jeffrey Epstein was still welcomed at Hollywood events even after his first arrest”

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  1. Krakken says:

    😶

  2. Harryg says:

    Disgusting creep. It should be so easy to catch everyone involved in this mess – what the hell is going on? And Acosta is a piece of scum to borrow Ivana’s ex’s excellent wording.

    • B n A fan says:

      Don’t think it’s going to be easy to catch all the creeps involved in this case. Everyone will be lawyering up and denying, denying, denying …. btw, Am I right, he spents appropriately 52 days in jails of his sentence of 13 months. I’m thinking if he spends one full day in jail for 13 months that’s approximately 52 days. He did get work release time, six days a week, to be at his office for 12=hours a day. How in God’s name is this serving jail time. I’m thinking while he was supposed to be out at work he was watching porn, just a thought. I hope all involved will have to pay. I can imaging there might have been hundreds of girls abused since this little fiasco that they cooked up.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      What did Ivana’s ex’s have to say? Do you have the link? Would to read it!

      ETA: Has the Daily Fail yet concocted a reason to blame Meghan for Andrew’s involvement? It would not shock me!

      • Christin says:

        There was a post on this site the other day regarding his comments. Definitely worth a read.

      • Harryg says:

        It was not related but it was hilarious. Go back two days (?) and you should see it!

  3. KG says:

    It’s bonkers to me that people acted like they “didn’t know!!!” anything after he’d been in jail AND had to register as a sex offender.

    • Elkie says:

      I am but a humble occasional visitor to a couple of gossip blogs, but if I know that Epstein (& Weinstein & Trump) were well known as sexual predators for a decade-plus, it’s impossible to believe that their social circles didn’t.

    • Megan says:

      So we are supposed to believe Prince Andrew’s security team did not inform him that Epstein is a registered level 3 sex offender?

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      if they convict Epstein they have to convict all the people he procured children for. How many people is that? This could take years

  4. Incredulous says:

    Has anyone else read accounts of his house in Manhattan? Even a Bond villain would consider it too much.

    • C says:

      Exactly! It’s like Dr evil. So creepy! And he has everything documented about who used to be there….even Courtney Love.

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      why did Epstein have a fully equipped dentist chair? , Google Rachel Chandler

  5. JRenee says:

    The more info shared, the more stomach churning this is. This network and influence is high reaching and widespread. Just wondering how many victims could have been saved had he received an appropriate sentence versus the slap on the wrist he received.
    One sick dude

    • Esmom says:

      One sick dude indeed. And one sick, broken, corrupt system. It really seems to be time to burn it all the fu^k down.

      • Surly Gale says:

        How? You tell me how, @Esmom and I’ll get started. I just don’t know how to attack this sickness in society in a successful way…..I agree 100%. Seems to me the basis of all this sickness is money. Money equals power in the white man’s world. There’s a book I read that says “The love of money is the root of all evil”. This I know for sure, that book is bang on for this sleezey crappy societal system. Evil flourishes when good men (read all humanity…including LGQ+ folk) stand by and do nothing … not sure if that’s from the same book or maybe was originally said by a Holocaust survivor. So tell me how to “burn it all the fu^k down” and I will willingly get started ……

      • Harryg says:

        There should be a body camera embedded in the creeps’ forehead the second they get caught with child porn/trafficking/anything. Monitored 24 hours a day, beeping loudly when they approach a child. I’m so sick of these monsters getting away with it.
        And, they would pay for this surveillance and all the equipment.

  6. Alexis37 says:

    Wow, so this piece does shed some light on how he was able to operate in NYC for so long – by cooping stars of the NY media. It took a Miami newspaper to upend this guy. There is a real lesson in here about access journalism and friendly relationships. Our media is such a big fail. Well, I would say our NYC-Beltway media. In many ways. We don’t know the half of it yet of course. Wait.

  7. Christin says:

    At least one additional victim has bravely come forward. Imagine how many were involved across the world. We may never know the full extent of this.

  8. Rapunzel says:

    Kaiser, can we just post a poop emoji instead of his picture? Looking at this guy makes me sick.

    We should do that for every sick mofo like this.

    • Heylee says:

      This, please! I cannot look at his face anymore. I physically cannot handle it.

      • Renee says:

        I get where you are coming from, but I want this bastard’s face plastered on billboards if necessary. I want him shamed into oblivion. I think part of the reason he got away with it for so long (and was embraced by Hollywood) is because no one knew who he was.
        We ALL know now!

    • Pineapple says:

      Oh Rapunzel, nice idea!!!! There is not enough room for the size of the poop emoji you would need. XO

    • jennifer says:

      No, get his face out there. He shouldn’t be shielded or protected, people need to see what he looks like.

  9. BayTampaBay says:

    Was this man “paying” people to be his friends? I cannot imagine any reason, other than money, that people would want to hang with this loser.

    • Alexis37 says:

      You can’t? I can, and I bet you can too. And for some of them? That is why. We just don’t know which ones. Yet.

      • BayTampaBay says:

        Some of the people who hung with this loser were not abusing children. The so called “friends” who were not sexual perverts hanging with this loser are the ones I cannot understand.

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      wouldn’t be the first time people were paid to be friends with a billionaire , google John Du Pont

  10. Esmom says:

    JFC the rationalizations…interest in the royals was high, a chance to see the most expensive house….seems no one considered shunning the monster.

    • Alexis37 says:

      There is a high level of moral depravity shown here, I agree.

      • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

        they shook hands and drank champagne with a pedo , those same people snubbed mel gibson like he was a leper

  11. Dragonlady sakura says:

    People knew he was a creepy predator, but chose to ignore it because “money”. The rich and powerful can get away with so many horrendous things that us common folks couldn’t imagine. I hope he finally gets his comeuppance.

    • Lizzie says:

      right on.

      i saw a picture from a bunch of celebs on instagram a few months ago where les moonves was in the background of all of them having the time of his life. laughing, drinking. you would think he is persona non-grata but nope – he’s still in hollywood mixing it up like he didn’t use his influence for decades to abuse women. no one cares as long as they get their moet.

    • DM2 says:

      So disappointed to hear about Katic Couric and George S. attending this soirée for Prince Andrew at this p.o.s.’s house. And yeah, it’s not like they didn’t know about his lovely “reputation” beforehand – – just goes to show that [some] people will check their moral compasses at the door just to rub elbows with certain elites. So it’s pretty disingenuous of Couric to today say that it was the first and last time she met with Epstein. Why did you go in the first place, Katie?

  12. C says:

    I believe he recorded those powerful men using his “massage “ services…Clinton, Trump, Woody Allen etc
    That’s why he keeps getting away with this horrible crimes 🤢

  13. Kiki says:

    I want to see all these rich White Men in powerful authority to go to prison.

  14. crogirl says:

    Charlie Rose, Woody Allen, Chelsea Handler… what a delightful party, makes me wanna barf

    • Meg says:

      I agree! Reading that list of guests says a lot

    • Mia4s says:

      That’s likely just the warm up. Keep an eye on publicist Peggy Siegel mentioned in that story. A BIG Oscar publicist. Worked with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Eddie Redmayne on their successful Oscar campaigns (and I hope both men have more sense they to still employ her…but we will see). If she was involved in bolstering and shepherding Epstein around Hollywood? Oh there is no limit to who may get pulled into this.

  15. Burdzeye View says:

    It is horrific that this POS and his accomplices are among those who can and do pay to make it all go away. And for women to enable it and be involved? Beyond me. I hope each and everyone of them end up paying for what they’ve done – they should all be left rotting in the hole they crawled out of. And that includes Pedo Andy.

  16. Mimi says:

    I’m starting to wonder about Chris Tucker. This is the second high profile pedophile he’s willingly associated with so his judgment is looking a little questionable. It feels like there’s a story there if someone took the time to put the pieces together. I know he’s had financial troubles in the past, so I’m not suggesting he himself is a pedophile but that there may be some other motivation for him.

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      Jeffrey Epstein’s friend Chris Tucker knowingly worked with child rapist Roman Polanski

  17. Imeanreally says:

    Apparently, in the stratosphere that is celebrity society, what matters most is money and power. All else is forgiven.

    • Citresse says:

      Not always- last year, execs at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science voted to expel film director Roman Polanski. Polanski was convicted of raping a 13 year old girl.

    • Hmmm says:

      In the meetoo movement not one cared about the child victims in hollyweird that says it all. Rose McGowan kept quiet when asked why she supported victor Silva after he was convicted of raping a child actor 🤷🏽‍♀️ It’s normal for them.

    • A says:

      That is exactly it. It’s not just celeb society. Wherever there is an intersection between wealth and power, you’ll find precisely this type of thing. Monsters who seek to exploit those who cannot conceivably fight back. Some people will prioritize their money over any and every type of human decency, because the systems in place continue to reward them for that.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Got a ‘sorry that page doesn’t exist’ message. What was it about?

      • Jerusha says:

        I don’t recall the original tweeter, but it was apparently testimony in a case that alleged epstein and trump got into an argument about who would have the “honor” of “popping the cherry” of a child.

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      hollywood veteran Sean Young liked and retweeted a post asking is harrison ford a pedo

  18. Cher says:

    Dude’s head is MASSIVE. He looks like Herman Munster.

  19. Appla says:

    Interesting how the Daily Mail has been very very quiet about this. They did report on it but the article is hidden on the bottom of the page with moderated comments. I am very suspicious of the news outlets who are quiet. What blackmail material does Epstein have on some media barons? Never believed in conspiracy theories but the tinfoil hat theory nuts did keep banging on about Epstein decades ago…instead it is ten articles about Meghan.

    Also wanted to add I am very disturbed that the case is causing a lot of antisemitic tweets to make the rounds. It’s a very sick case and a lot of women are complicit and I would argue Epstein would not have been able to carry out the trafficking without them. For example, I have been reading about these women called Ghislaine Roberts and Rachel Chandler who helped lure in young girls for their own profit.

    • C says:

      Like I said, poor Meghan is being used so people won’t pay attention about Prince Andrew connection with this sick monster.

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      They are very selective and careful in the UK when it comes to exposing sex abuse, there was a journalist her name was Jill Dando she was looking into Jimmy Savile and i believe she discovered being friends with the Royal family is what made him untouchable then she was murdered

  20. pantanlones en fuego says:

    His attorney is proposing house arrest (in his $77 million mansion) until trial. I’m not holding my breath for him or any of his associates to do any amount of hard and substantial prison time.

  21. Disappointing that some in Hollywood still support(ed) him, yes. Worse though is the political connections, and the people shrugging this off. MY GOD, what will make people finally say oh NO, what is happening now is not okay! It is not Normal (Wanda Sykes is right, IT”S NOT NORMAL ) that the PRESIDENT (not mine) of the USA may be involved in sex and human trafficking with young MINOR girls for decades. Uh NO, that is not okay. And people are blase about it instead of wanting to know? I am trying to stay positive like we all are, but come on! This is just wrong and everyone should know that. There is no gray area here. This must change.

  22. Hmmm says:

    Does Chelsea have any connection to the younger child collector he had? Her name is Rachel chandler or ray chandler 🤔🤔🤔 And she post weird stuff on Instagram. She locked her account after he was arrested.

  23. JRenee says:

    They let him put on bail/ house arrest, disgusting!

  24. Snap Happy says:

    I never forgot how the Queen gave Andy some honor, order or the something, around the time the Epstein story was hot years ago. I found it really gross. I also read here the other day that Charles was friends with Jimmy Saville Also very gross.

  25. A says:

    There’s just something peculiar about the way this man looks at the camera. It’s just very…performative, for a lack of a better word. Like everything he does in his photos, he does it while looking straight at the camera. He never seems to be able to take a candid photo, at least not as far as I’ve seen. And he always has the same expression on his face when he does this, with his head slightly tilted off to one side, with a not-quite smile on his face. As if he’s a shadow, going through the motions of it all.

    I read something peculiar about Jeffrey Epstein, and I haven’t quite been able to get it out of my mind. Someone had compiled some quotes from old articles about Epstein, and highlighted a couple of intriguing things in them. In the first one, a Vanity Fair article from before his initial arrest, it said that he had joked once about being a “bounty hunter” of sorts. In the second one, a more recent article about Alexander Acosta’s confirmation, the committee had brought up his conduct during Epstein’s first arrest, and asked him why he hadn’t proceeded with charges. Acosta replied that he’d been told Epstein was being handled by some “intelligence officials” who had informed him that it was “not his responsibility” to go too far with him (I’m paraphrasing SUUUUUPER poorly here!) The third article was about Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, Robert Maxwell, who it was rumoured had been working with British intelligence officials in some way.

    All of the threads had been put together to try and figure out why Epstein had been arrested now. I didn’t find any of the conjectures on this front very conclusive, primarily because there isn’t much to go on at all, but I did think that the idea of Jeffrey Epstein being involved in some kind of intelligence type BS was a curious one. We know he’s some type of hedge fund person, but the origins of his money and his initial foray into hedge funds has always just been really shady to me. It does seem like he’s particularly well-placed to be a spy, doesn’t it? And the same for Ghislaine Maxwell, who it was posited took over for her father in aiding intelligence agencies.

  26. Anna says:

    This video needs to be seen by everyone. It is the video testimony of a woman named Katie Johnson who claims she was groomed, abused, and raped by Epstein and Trump at several of Epstein’s child rape parties when she was 13 years old.

    If you don’t watch it let me tell you how creepy the details are. Trump liked this girl to wear a blonde wig because he said she reminded him of his daughter who was also 13 at the time. There is so much more in here, this poor woman had her innocence ripped away from her forever and it just supports all the grossness many of us have suspected of him all along but shows a much more frightening and scary side.

    https://vimeo.com/176181706

    • Gerard Kennelly 1986 says:

      you think for one second Trump would be POTUS if Hillary & Co didn’t want him there? Everything you see and hear regards Epstein is bare faced lies