What Modeling Taught Me About Jeffrey Epstein

THECUT.COM ^ | 7/22/2019 | sara ziff

[bitt]

When I first saw Jeffrey Esptein’s mugshot, I recognized him instantly. It was several years ago, when he was first accused of sex trafficking. Early in my working life as a young model, I was on location in Florida for a photo shoot with an older, Eastern European model, who was eager for me to meet her friend, Jeffrey. We visited a residence, presumably his Palm Beach estate, during the day and I chatted with him as he sat beside me facing a swimming pool. He was personable, casually dressed, and asked me about myself. When I told him that I grew up in New York City and attended Dalton, the elite private high school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, he seemed surprised. He had taught math there. What did my family do, he asked?

Nothing untoward happened. In hindsight, I wonder if this was because of Epstein’s awareness of my background. As the child of a professor and an attorney, I had a support network of family and friends in New York. I was relatively privileged compared to many of my peers who entered the modeling world from working class backgrounds and less prosperous countries such as Brazil and the nations of Eastern Europe. In 2015, alleged Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said in court filings that Epstein, MC2 modeling agency founder Jean Luc Brunel, and their associates “deliberately engaged in a pattern of racketeering that involved luring minor children through MC2, mostly girls under the age of 17, to engage in sexual play for money.” Elisabetta Tai, an Italian model whose agent sent her to meet Epstein at his Manhattan residence for a casting for Victoria’s Secret, alleges that Epstein propositioned her for a nude massage. Brunel was also once a partner at Next, my then-modeling ..

[bitt]

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[newfreep]

The author resembles the crazy NBC reporterette, Katy Tur, who lived with Keith Olberman and her dad became a crossdresser.

[Regulator]

That rich guys wanna bang good looking women who spend their lives trying to look enticing?

You gotta go to a Manhattan private school to figure that out?

[karnage]

Amazing, isn’t it?

[Boogieman]

“It seemed likely they knew they were encouraging models into compromising, even dangerous situations. They were more careful with top-earning supermodels but it usually seemed the agency’s allegiance was to the clients, not the models whose interests they were supposed to represent.”

Supply and demand, honey. There are a million good looking women out there who would knock their grandmother out of the way for a chance to be a model. You’re replaceable, but the clients’ money is not.

[Boogieman]

Plenty of women are willing to accommodate them too. Epstein’s fatal mistake was messing with the young ones, instead of sticking with adult golddiggers.

[Brian Griffin]

I think if Epstein modified his tastes from age 17 and under to 18 or more, he probably wouldn’t be in such legal trouble.

I don’t know the applicable law and my Florida Statute books are at home.

[Persevero]

In this case it wasn’t women, rather girls

[pepsi_junkie]

“It seemed likely they knew they were encouraging models into compromising, even dangerous situations. They were more careful with top-earning supermodels but it usually seemed the agency’s allegiance was to the clients, not the models whose interests they were supposed to represent.”

Who is paying the agency? That should give you an idea of what their real product is.

[arrogantsob]

Candy draws flies.

[dirtymac]

It was Clinton and others of that ilk that like the girls to be young, very young.

[mumblypeg]

There’s always been a thin line between “modeling” & prostitution (call girl or escort services, to put it more tactfully.)

It’s not that unusual for modeling agencies to send models to “bookings” in which the model serves merely as arm candy for some rich guy at a star-studded party.

The girl hopes to boost her “modeling” career by being photographed by paparazzi & seen in the glossy magazines.
The geezer gets stud points for being photo’ed with a babe.
If they’re seen together, they must be screwing, right?

The agency gets its cut of the girl’s fee, with the tacit agreement that whatever she & Mr. Big do after the party is a separate, private transaction.

[bgill]

it usually seemed the agency’s allegiance was to the clients, not the models whose interests they were supposed to represent.

Duh, the agency wouldn't exist without clients' $$$$$.

[Moltke]

I have this theory that the whole “haute couture” scam was created by a pervert cabal to enable access to and pass around young dumb pretty meat for the string-pullers (no pun intended).

I mean, look at any “fashion” show/magazine. No one wears that outlandish crap in real life. Totally pointless. A cover.

[bigbob]

That’s stupid and irrelevant, she can’t help who she resembles. You don’t like Tur, neither do I, but it has nothing to do with this story.

The fact is, if this was Epstein’s business (as I believe it was) then he would have learned to be very judicious about what he said and to whom. Just like a drug dealer or illegala arms seller or any other professional criminal.

[Boogieman]

Ostensibly, the models pay the agency, but really they just take a cut of what the customers are paying the models. They’re no more economically motivated to protect the interests of a model than a pimp is motivated to protect the interests of his prostitute.

[Boogieman]

True, he might still be guilty of solicitation, pandering, or even trafficking, but those laws tend to be a lot less harsh than when minors are involved. There are plenty of ways to hide those activities under “legitimate” cover as well, as probably happens in the modelling and entertainment industry all the time.