What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein's Relationship With Ghislaine Maxwell

The following article contains references to sexual assault, child abuse, and suicide.

Few duos are as infamous as Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein, once an esteemed financier, and Maxwell, a British socialite, toppled all the way down the social ladder when it came to light that they had been involved in the sex trafficking of minors. Epstein's social demise started as early as 2006 when he faced charges of soliciting prostitution. He pleaded guilty in 2008 but spent a mere 18 months in prison — during which he was allowed to go to his office during the day as part of a work-release program. While Epstein's reputation was in tatters, Maxwell's was still relatively unscathed, but that all changed more than a decade later.

These days, it's impossible to hear Maxwell and Epstein's names without experiencing some degree of horror. After it came to light in 2019 that the couple had been involved in sex trafficking, using Epstein's island, Little Saint James, as their base of operations, the media started uncovering, piece by piece, the atrocities that had been committed by the duo over the course of nearly two decades.

Due to the vile acts for which they were charged or convicted, Epstein and Maxwell's relationship remains a subject of curiosity. While it is still shrouded in some mystery, Epstein and Maxwell's victims have given the public a glimpse into the inner workings of their relationship. To say that it was complicated is an understatement.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

When Ghislaine Maxwell first met Jeffrey Epstein in 1991, she was a young British socialite who had just moved to New York to get a brand new magazine off the ground. Her father, Robert Maxwell, a U.K. media mogul, was the reason Ghislaine ran in high circles. New York's elite was interested in her — Robert had recently acquired the New York Daily News — and Ghislaine seemed set to maintain her socialite status without a hitch. Thanks to a friend, she became acquainted with Epstein soon after her arrival in New York.

Maxwell was used to the kind of lifestyle men like Epstein led because she grew up that way, but Robert wasn't as well-off financially as it appeared — his business was in the red and he'd taken out over $700 million worth in pension funds. This only came to light after he died in a boating accident in November 1991. Suddenly, Maxwell's shiny New York life and social status were in peril. She had to move into a tiny apartment, and her future seemed uncertain. It was during this time Epstein came to her rescue, according to The Guardian. The two of them grew close pretty quickly. By the time 1992 rolled around, speculation was rife that Maxwell and Epstein were a couple.

Looking back at how Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein first became acquainted, one can't be blamed for thinking that Maxwell held on to the financier as tightly as she did because of his riches. Epstein was worth an estimated $559 million, and Maxwell's own family riches were long gone. Epstein's money and status extended to Maxwell — she was once again able to live the lavish life to which she was accustomed, and her status as a socialite was resecured.

During Maxwell's New York sex trafficking case, prosecutor Lara Pomerantz reiterated the financial benefit Maxwell reaped from her relationship with Epstein in her opening statement. "These girls were just a means to support her lifestyle, a way for the defendant to make sure that Epstein — who demanded constant sexual gratification from young girls — remained satisfied so that the defendant could stay in the lifestyle to which she was accustomed," Pomerantz said (via The Guardian).

Several witnesses supported Pomerantz's statement. Banker Patrick McHugh told the court that Maxwell received over $30 million in payments from Epstein between 1999 and 2007. Some of this money was used to buy a $7.35 million helicopter. One accuser, who went by Kate, told the court that Maxwell had also boasted about the property Epstein bought her: "She told me that she owned her house in New York City and that Jeffrey had got it for her."

Jeffrey Epstein doesn't appear to have been the kind of person who did anything for free. Just as he was a means for Ghislaine Maxwell to maintain her lifestyle, she was also apparently the key to Epstein expanding his social circle.

Due to Maxwell's famous father, she knew people in high places, including British royals, American politicians, and esteemed celebrities. While Epstein was rich, it didn't make up for his awkward social skills; however, Maxwell was a social butterfly and knew how to work a room. "Ghislaine was a classic social climber, only interested in people who were rich and entitled and powerful," columnist and publicist R. Couri Hay told the Daily Mail. Hay is of the opinion that Maxwell and Epstein's relationship was always more transactional than it was romantic.

The '90s saw Epstein and Ghislaine mingling with the likes of former U.S. president Bill Clinton and future president Donald Trump as well as British royal Prince Andrew – social connections Hay believed would not have been possible for Epstein had he not had Ghislaine as his wingwoman. "Jeffrey liked to 'collect' people. The fact she could produce someone such as Prince Andrew made her a star in his eyes." Hay explained, adding, "I saw them at a very grand party once, and she might as well have been leading him around on a leash. ... She was his crutch."

While Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein never publicly announced that they were dating at any point, many thought them to be a couple, and witness testimony during Maxwell's sex trafficking case seemed to support that the two were in a romantic relationship for several years. During publicist R. Couri Hay's conversation with the Daily Mail, he said there was no doubt in his mind that Maxwell hero-worshipped Epstein. "She looked up to Jeffrey like he was Zeus," Hay said, citing this as one of the likely reasons Maxwell became Epstein's partner in crime. "I never got the feeling he was in love with her, but they gave off the aura of being a couple," Hay said.

Maxwell's brother, Ian Maxwell, confirmed to Business Insider in 2021 that the two were in a relationship at one point but insisted that they never lived together and that the relationship eventually turned professional, adding that it wasn't a typical romantic relationship. "They were not some loved-up couple," he claimed. However, Annie Farmer, one of Epstein's alleged victims who testified in the case against Maxwell, described Epstein and Maxwell as handsy and "very playful" with each other (via Independent). Farmer's mother, Janice Swain, told the court that Epstein even once referred to Maxwell as his wife.

While many dirty secrets came into the open during Ghislaine Maxwell's trial, none were perhaps so unexpected as the claim that Maxwell was once pregnant with Jeffrey Epstein's child. One of Maxwell's accusers, Carolyn, dropped this bombshell in court, claiming she saw pictures of Maxwell sporting a baby bump while she was at Epstein's house. "There was multiple pictures, nude photos," she testified (via Independent). A picture released by the U.S. District Attorney's Office and published by the Daily Mail shows Epstein and Maxwell posing for a photograph with Epstein's hand on Maxwell's stomach, giving the impression that she might have been pregnant. If Maxwell had indeed been pregnant, it's not clear what happened to the baby, but it might be that the couple struggled to have children.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the most prominent figures in the cases against Epstein and Maxwell, revealed to her lawyer, Bradley Edwards, that the couple approached her with a proposition. "They told Virginia she would be taken care of for the rest of her life if she would agree to give Epstein and Maxwell a child," Edwards revealed in his memoir, "Relentless Pursuit." The deal wasn't as simple as it sounded, however. "There were some strings attached. ... In particular, she would have to sign a contract agreeing that the baby was not her own, but the legal child of Epstein and Maxwell," Edwards explained in his book. Giuffre did not take them up on their offer.

Ghislaine Maxwell wasn't just thought to be Jeffrey Epstein's partner, she also ran his household and some of his business affairs. While giving testimony in court, Juan Alessi, who managed Epstein's Palm Beach home, referred to Maxwell as "the girlfriend of Mr. Epstein" and "the lady of the house," explaining that she took over the household the second she crossed the threshold for the first time. "She mentioned to me she was going to be the lady of the house. Also, she was in charge of other homes, other properties," Alessi told the court (via The Guardian).

So invested was Maxwell in running the household that she eventually put together a handbook for Alessi, dictating how to do his job. It included, among other instructions, to "try and anticipate the needs of Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell, and their guests" and to "remember that you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, except to answer a question directed at you. Respect [guests'] privacy." Alessi also testified that Maxwell told him that he was not allowed to make eye contact with Epstein.

Epstein's former private pilots, Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr. and David Rodgers, both testified that Maxwell was somewhat of a personal assistant to Epstein. She would book flights, oversee finances, and hire employees. She also had a hand in managing some of Epstein's many properties and took care of the financier's day-to-day needs.

What many have struggled to understand is how Ghislaine Maxwell, a woman herself, could allow Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse young women and girls, let alone be the one to provide him with the minors he sought. One of Maxwell's accusers, Annie Farmer, testified that Maxwell lured young girls into Epstein's clutches without batting an eye. "[She] was a really important part of the grooming process," Farmer, who was 16 when she allegedly became one of Epstein's first victims, said, adding that Epstein and Maxwell "worked as a team" (via Independent).

Another accuser, who testified under the pseudonym Kate, said Maxwell told her that she wanted to introduce her to Epstein because he could help kickstart Kate's music career. The first meeting was casual, but the second one turned sexual when Maxwell asked 17-year-old Kate to massage Epstein, even though she wasn't a massage therapist. Epstein initiated sex with Kate, and this was the first of a long series of meetings in which she was repeatedly sexually abused.

Kate alleged that she was flown to various properties owned by Epstein and told the court that she "didn't know how to say no," as reported by CNN. She revealed that she was terrified of getting kicked out of the house with no means of returning home. Kate also testified that Maxwell asked her to refer some of her friends for Epstein.

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When Jeffrey Epstein was charged with acquiring a minor for prostitution in 2006, it appears that Ghislaine Maxwell attempted to distance herself, at least romantically, from Epstein. She started dating billionaire Ted Waitt in 2005, but they broke up in 2010 because, according to the Daily Mail, Waitt could no longer deal with the media tempest surrounding Maxwell's association with Epstein.

Despite Epstein's new reputation as a convicted sex offender, Maxwell didn't break things off with him entirely. Privately, the two remained close. In emails exchanged between the couple that had since been made public, Epstein assured Maxwell she was in the clear. "You have done nothing wrong and i [would] urge you to start acting like it. go outside, head high, not as an [escaping] convict. go to parties. deal with it," one of his emails to her read (via Cosmopolitan).

In a 2016 deposition, Maxwell admitted that she didn't cut ties with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution and that she was still involved in business relating to his properties during that time. Her testimony during the deposition didn't do her any favors when she faced sex trafficking charges in 2020. "I'm a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away," she said in the deposition (via Independent). "I felt that it was a very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do to help in a very limited fashion," she added.

While Ghislaine Maxwell wasn't directly implicated in Jeffrey Epstein's prostitution charges in 2006, the public and the media became suspicious of her in the 2010s when Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed that British royal, Prince Andrew, raped her when she was 17 and that the encounter had been orchestrated by Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell vehemently denied the allegations, calling Giuffre a liar. This was the beginning of the end for Epstein and Maxwell. Many other women started to come forward, accusing Epstein and Maxwell of sexual abuse, and in 2019, Epstein was finally arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. He died by suicide a little over a month after his arrest while awaiting trial.

Maxwell, meanwhile, was living on borrowed time. With Epstein no longer around to be held accountable for his crimes, authorities focused their attention on her. One of Epstein's first alleged victims, Annie Farmer, testified that Maxwell took part in the abuse, the Independent reported. Another one of Maxwell's accusers, Carolyn, testified that she was also hired by Maxwell to give Epstein sexual massages and that Maxwell participated in the abuse (via The Guardian). Additionally, one accuser, Jane, recalled how Maxwell would touch her inappropriately, adding that she was also subjected to group sexual encounters.

Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with six counts of sex trafficking in 2020 but maintained her innocence throughout the trial. When author and investigative journalist Conchita Sarnoff spoke to Maxwell about the allegations of sexual abuse prior to her arrest, Maxwell brushed it off, Sarnoff told the Daily Mail. "She did not sound guilty, ashamed, or alarmed, but merely dismissive. ... She was simply a girlfriend hiring his masseuses, and they had all been legitimate and weren't underage," Sarnoff recalled.

Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine's brother, told Insider that there was no way his sister was ever involved in Epstein's sex crimes. "The idea that somehow Ghislaine would spend any time at all in this horrible sleazy, sh*tty world that we now know he was attracted to, is absurd," he said. "The idea that she would be some kind of a Madame — it really is grotesque," he added.

Despite Maxwell's desperate attempts to prove her innocence, she was found guilty of five of the six charges against her after compelling testimony from victims who all cumulatively painted a picture of how Maxwell exploited them in their teenage years, using their innocence and challenges as a means to lure them into Epstein's clutches while promising to make all their wildest dreams come true. Instead, they were subjected to their worst nightmares. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after the guilty verdict.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).