| Notes |
A female executive at the top of the modelling industry had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and introduced him to women on the agency’s books, a Guardian investigation has found.
Until last November, Faith Kates ran Next Management modelling and talent agency, which has represented the likes of Alexa Chung, Milla Jovovich and Billie Eilish, a position she held for decades as the founder of the business. She stepped down quietly just weeks before the first major Epstein files were released.
Links between Kates and the late sex offender have previously been reported, but analysis of documents published by the US Department of Justice reveals a much deeper relationship than previously known, with emails showing Kates secretly took business advice from Epstein and discussed multimillion-dollar loans.
Kates appears to have met Epstein regularly, including on one occasion with the then Prince Andrew at a New York department store in December 2010, the week of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s now infamous visit to the city to supposedly call off his friendship with the financier.
Kates, 68, offered her support and “unconditional” friendship after Epstein was first convicted for soliciting a child for prostitution in 2009. She was still sending friendly emails weeks before he was arrested again in 2019.
More troubling is that across their nearly 40-year relationship it seems Kates connected a number of her models with Epstein, raising serious questions for the woman who has been responsible for the careers – and ultimately the welfare – of thousands of young women. There is no evidence to suggest Kates was aware of Epstein’s offending prior to his 2009 conviction.
The revelations prompted Next, which until now has not commented on its founder’s relationship with the sex offender, to thoroughly distance itself from her. In a statement to the Guardian, a spokesperson said the company was working to end all legal ties with Kates and that her relationship with Epstein “was completely and absolutely unknown to Next management and its top executives”. |