The Tamesis
It’s been six years since the death of American financier and serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but thanks to the release of Epstein’s dossier in 2026 and the efforts of his survivors, the extent of his crimes (and the complicity of an extensive network of powerful, well-connected individuals who helped Epstein carry out his abuse) are only just being fully understood. This week, many survivors joined the nonprofit advocacy group Model Alliance in calling for state and federal investigations into the modeling industry’s possible role in Epstein’s decades of predatory behavior.
More than 40 Epstein survivors and current and former models — including Model Alliance founder Sara Ziff, Beverly Johnson, Lisa Phillips, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, Jasmine Lobe and Teddy Quinlivan Quinlivan – has signed a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Rep. Ro Khanna and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, urging them to further “investigate” the Epstein matter.[ing] These systems made Epstein’s surgery possible. “
The Model Alliance letter outlines the role that several modeling agency founders and other key industry figures (including MC2 founder Jean-Luc Brunel) played in recruiting and helping groom aspiring models for Epstein, directly linking the lack of protections for young and economically vulnerable women and girls in the modeling industry to Epstein’s vulnerability to exploitation.
“Jeffrey Epstein was not a rogue outlier but a beneficiary and participant in the system,” the letter reads, continuing: “[The facts] Raising serious questions about whether and how the modeling industry functions as a recruitment and referral conduit – sending aspiring teen models to Jeffrey Epstein and others with power, wealth and a well-documented history of abuse.
“Epstein’s dossier exposes a darker truth about the modeling industry: What looks glamorous on the outside to many of us is actually a system that often traps teenagers in dangerous and exploitative situations,” Ziff, a longtime advocate for victims of sexual abuse in the fashion industry, told CNN. Fashion”, adding: “While it is heartening to see so many people around the world demanding justice for Epstein’s survivors, responsibility must extend beyond the individual perpetrators to the systems that enabled them. Only by confronting this system can we build a better, safer fashion industry and protect the next generation. “
The list of celebrities who have resigned or retired from public life because of their links to Epstein has expanded to include former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former Goldman Sachs chief legal officer Catherine Rummler and former Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, but it is worth noting that former socialite and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell is one of the only former associates of Epstein currently serving time in prison. The Model Union hopes the letters will lead to the conviction of others involved in Epstein’s crimes.
