https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/05/jeffrey-epstein-letters-photosEpstein scandal broadens as trove of letters from famous figures published
New York Times reports on letters by Ehud Barak, Woody Allen and others written for Epstein’s 63rd birthday
Anna Betts in New York
Tue 5 Aug 2025 12.47 EDT
The long-running scandal surrounding the disgraced late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein broadened on Tuesday after the New York Times published a trove of previously unseen letters to Epstein from numerous powerful figures as well as unseen photographs from inside his Manhattan mansion.
The letters, written to Epstein by a number of high-profile individuals, were reportedly compiled as a birthday gift for Epstein’s 63rd birthday in 2016. Their publication comes amid intense speculation around Donald Trump’s ties to Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 and had long cultivated a celebrity social circle of the rich and powerful.
In a letter from film-maker Woody Allen, Allen reminisced about Epstein’s dinner parties at his Upper East Side townhouse and described the gatherings as “always interesting”. He noted that the parties included “politicians, scientists, teachers, magicians, comedians, intellectuals, journalists” and “even royalty”.
Other letter writers reportedly included billionaire media mogul Mortimer Zuckerman; Noam Chomsky and his wife; Joichi Ito, the former head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab; physicist Lawrence M Krauss; and Harvard biologist and mathematician Martin Nowak.
In addition to the letters, the Times also published photos from inside Epstein’s seven-story Manhattan mansion (...) Elsewhere in the house, dozens of framed photographs show Epstein pictured alongside longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking. They also pictured Epstein with notable figures such as Pope John Paul II, Mick Jagger, Elon Musk, Fidel Castro, Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Richard Branson, Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and former Trump White House adviser, Steve Bannon. One frame also displayed a dollar bill signed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with the message “I was wrong!” which the Times said was “possibly as payment of a bet”.
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