Jeffrey Epstein’s connections with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton have been well documented in light of renewed allegations against the serial rapist and pedophile, but Epstein’s inner circle of high profile connections goes far beyond the two presidents.
As many public figures, Trump and Clinton included, scramble to minimize their connections to the disgraced Epstein, New York Magazine is making it harder for them to cover their tracks. The magazine recently released an annotated A-Z list of Epstein’s contacts comprised of wealthy, high-society figures of a variety of backgrounds. While not all the names listed have had proven contact with Epstein, many were simply found in Epstein’s infamous “black book,” the diverse catalogue reveals the breadth and influence of Epstein’s vast network of celebrity contacts.
“This project is meant to catalogue how Epstein’s secure footing in elite spheres helped hide his crimes,” wrote Frank Rich in the introduction to the list. “It includes influential names listed in his black book, people he flew funded, and schmoozed, along with others whose connections to him have drawn renewed attention.”
From famed actors and musicians to lawyers and business tycoons, the list includes a wide variety of well-known figures, from the unsurprising (multiple Trumps), to the unexpected (Malcolm Gladwell and Chelsea Handler).
Some of the less surprising names on the list include Kevin Spacey and Woody Allen, who have both faced droves of sexual misconduct allegations of their own. While the Spacey connection was perhaps more tangential (the actor is known to have flown with Bill Clinton to Africa on Epstein’s plane), Allen, whose former 16-year-old lover later went on to become Epstein’s assistant, was such a close friend that Epstein reportedly kept a framed photo of the disgraced director on his wall.
Epstein’s connections to many of the more surprising and highly recognizable names on the list are considerably more vague, but his wide array of celebrity contacts include the likes of Mick Jagger, Courtney Love, Dustin Hoffman, Ralph Fiennes, Minnie Driver, Janice Dickinson, Joan Rivers and Phil Collins, among many others.
Of course, as Rich noted in the introduction, not all of these social contacts knew what Epstein was up to. Malcolm Gladwell told the magazine, “I don’t remember much except being baffled as to who this Epstein guy was and why we were all on his plane,” while Chelsea Handler recalled attending a 2010 dinner party at Epstein’s as “just one of those strange nights.”
Whether or not these contacts all directly enabled Epstein’s crimes, New York paints the star-studded network as a major shield that hid Epstein’s crimes for years. “A pointillist portrait of enablement,” New York‘s list reveals a chilling reality: it takes a village to hide a monster.
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