The Justice Department’s latest release of the Jeffrey Epstein files has ensnared high-profile figures in American entertainment, politics, sports and academia, whose correspondence revealed the kind of relationships that the late convicted sex offender had with powerful individuals across industries and continents.
The fallout over the Epstein files release has led to consequences abroad, including for the disgraced ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor; former British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson; Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit and former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland; and prominent Emirati business figure Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, among others.
Most of these figures have not been accused of any involvement in Epstein’s criminal wrongdoing. Mountbatten-Windsor, who is now facing a potential criminal investigation in the U.K. related to the Justice Department’s newly released documents, has long denied criminal misconduct.
An increasing number of powerful people in the U.S. are also facing ramifications over revelations of their associations with Epstein. None have been accused of wrongdoing or involvement in Epstein or his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes.
Casey Wasserman
Wasserman, an influential entertainment executive and chair of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, reportedly said he will sell his talent agency amid backlash over suggestive messages he exchanged with Maxwell from 2003 — before Epstein first faced criminal charges.
A raft of artists, including Grammy Award-winning singer Chapelle Roan and Orville Peck, announced in the past week that they were separating with Wasserman’s firm.
The DOJ files included messages from Wasserman saying he thought about Maxwell “all the time,” as well as discussions about her attire.
Wasserman told his staff in a memo that the messages had become a “distraction” and apologized, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the impending sale.
The L.A. Olympics committee said Wednesday that Wasserman will remain chairman.
Kathy Ruemmler
Ruemmler, the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs, said Thursday she would step down from her post at the end of June after the DOJ files revealed that she had a far chummier relationship with Epstein than she previously let on.
Emails released by the Justice Department show that Ruemmler, who served as a White House counsel under Barack Obama, advised Epstein on how to defend himself from allegations of sexual misconduct and that she received lavish gifts from him and gushingly called him “Uncle Jeffrey.”
Ruemmler’s spokesperson, Jennifer Connelly, said the DOJ files “are consistent with what Ms. Ruemmler has repeatedly said: She knew Epstein when she was a criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him. She was friendly with him in that context. She had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal conduct on his part.”
Before she sent notice of her resignation, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said Ruemmler “regrets ever knowing [Epstein].”
Howard Lutnick
President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary has faced intense scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein, which the files show continued long after Lutnick claimed to have ended it.
Lutnick’s previous claim that he severed ties in 2005 was proven to be false in the DOJ files, which showed he maintained their friendship long after that.
Lutnick was pressed about their relationship at a Senate hearing on Feb. 10, during which he conceded that he visited Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2012 with his family.
In a statement, a Commerce Department spokesperson told The New York Times that Lutnick had “very limited interactions” with Epstein after meeting him in 2005. The media’s scrutiny of Lutnick was an attempt to “distract from the administration’s accomplishments,” the spokesperson said. The White House has said that Trump “fully supports” Lutnick. Karp was replaced as chairman of the prominent law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison on Feb. 4 after his emails appeared in the Epstein files, including one 2015 correspondence in which Karp thanked Epstein for “including me in an evening I’ll never forget.” Karp also appeared to have shared clients’ confidences with Epstein. He has since said that he regretted his interactions with the financier. In his letter stepping down as chairman, Karp pointed to “recent reporting” that “has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.” He continues to be employed by Paul Weiss. Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants, and Epstein exchanged a number of emails in 2013 discussing women in crude terms. Epstein also connected Tisch, an Academy-award winning film producer whose work included “Forrest Gump,” with women hoping to enter the acting industry, the emails show. Tisch has said their association was “brief” and that they discussed “adult women” as well as movies and philanthropy. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with,” he said in a statement. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not indicated that there will be consequences for Tisch, but he said the league will “look at how that falls under the [Personal Conduct] Policy.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. Recommended
Brad Karp
Steve Tisch
