Newly unsealed court files from alleged abuse survivor Virginia Giuffre’s settled litigation with Ghislane Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time friend and assistant, reveal more detailed accusations against billionaire Les (Leslie) Wexner. Though Wexner’s relationship with Epstein is well known, the latest released documents include damning testimony from Giuffre in which she claims that she was trafficked for sex with Wexner multiple times.
The former retail magnate and major funder for the Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts in 1989 denied having any in-depth knowledge of or association with Epstein’s trafficking ring in 2019, insisting that he had cut ties with Epstein sometime in 2007 after the first allegations of sex trafficking emerged.
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The unsealed documents, released in batches per the order of Judge Loretta Preska, list the names of over 150 of Epstein’s associates accused of engaging with Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. Giuffre’s 2016 deposition against Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz contained a transcribed interview in which she alleged that Maxwell had trafficked her to Wexner for sexual encounters “more than three” but fewer than 10 times, that she was instructed by Maxwell to wear lingerie for Wexner, and that Wexner “participated in sex with minors.”
Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for the trafficking and sexual abuse of teenage girls, denied providing “an outfit of sexual nature” to Guiffre. Epstein and Maxwell allegedly began grooming Giuffre for their trafficking scheme in the year 2000, when she was between 16 and 17 years old and working as a spa attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Epstein’s crimes are reprehensible,” Benjamin Johnson, a spokesperson for the Wexner Center for the Arts, shared in a statement to Hyperallergic. “Several years ago, the university commissioned an independent review of his giving. That review identified $336,000 given to the Wexner Center for the Arts, all at least two decades ago and many years before any questions about Epstein surfaced. Accordingly, the university made a $336,000 contribution to the Ohio Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Initiative.”
However, Johnson noted that the Wexners “have been incredibly generous benefactors at Ohio State, and the university is grateful for their ongoing support and service,” aligning with the university president who mentioned that the school’s relationship with the family was likely to continue in an interview from Monday, January 11. Hyperallergic has inquired about the potential for renaming the Wexner Center.
Bath and Body Works Inc. (formerly L Brands, Wexner’s retail management group) did not immediately respond to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.
Though Wexner denied having any affiliation with Epstein after the child sex-trafficking ring rumors surfaced for the first time, the pair’s professional and personal relationship dates back to the late ’80s. Wexner, who acquired the fashion and lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret as part of L Brands, hired and entrusted Epstein as the financial advisor for his multi-million-dollar fortune in 1987. Wexner quickly integrated Epstein into his business and investment dealings, philanthropic endeavors, and private life, as reported by Vanity Fair.
In 1993, Epstein, emboldened by Wexner’s financial support and trust, began marketing himself as a model recruiter for Victoria’s Secret. A female executive flagged it with Wexner, who reportedly said he “would put a stop to it,” only for Epstein to repeat the claim again in 1997 to lure and attack model Alicia Arden, who was seeking a foot in the door with the lingerie company.
Wexner formally cut ties with Epstein in 2007 after the FBI began investigating claims of child sex abuse that emerged in 2005. The billionaire later accused Epstein of misappropriating approximately $46 million from him and his family.
Following Epstein’s death in 2019, Wexner’s own L Brands began conducting an investigation into the retail giant’s relationship with Epstein, which led to Wexner stepping down as the CEO in early 2020.
Source: Hyperallergic.com