The latest wave of Epstein files reads a bit like an awards‑season guest list, only this one sits inside FBI archives and Justice Department databases. Film directors, Oscar winners, magicians, TV hosts and rap heavyweights all make appearances in material that has now been sent to US politicians and released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen are among the figures who appear in the material, including in emails and references to social catch‑ups with Jeffrey Epstein over several years.
Allen was disgraced from Hollywood after marrying his ex-partner’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. (Image: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Jay Z (Shawn Carter) and Pusha T (Terrence Thornton) come up in a 2019 FBI intake report from a woman who claimed she was abducted and later found herself around Weinstein and Carter, with allegations of drugging and abuse that the Justice Department has warned may be fabricated.
Comedian Chris Tucker and actor Kevin Spacey are listed in connection with a 2002 Africa trip on Epstein’s plane for what was described as a humanitarian mission with former US president Bill Clinton, and emails in the files suggest Tucker later arranged to visit Epstein’s home.
This undated, redacted photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows former President Bill Clinton with actor Kevin Spacey and Ghislaine Maxwell, walking with unknown people. (Image: U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
Spacey’s name appears in photos and records alongside Clinton and Ghislaine Maxwell, and he has publicly pushed for full publication of the documents, posting on X: “Release the Epstein files. All of them. For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can’t come soon enough. I hate to make this about me — but the media already has.”
Magicians David Blaine and David Copperfield show up too: Blaine is recorded as having performed at a private dinner for Epstein in 2003, while Copperfield is listed in contact records and later reporting as having a “clear connection” to Epstein, which he has denied involved any criminal behaviour.
TV journalist Katie Couric also appears in the documents as a guest at a 2010 dinner at Epstein’s New York townhouse, telling him in an email that the invite had caused her “a bit of a kerfuffle”.
The Justice Department has made a point of saying that being named in the files does not mean someone committed a crime and has warned that the 3.5 million‑page dump includes “fake or falsely submitted images, documents” and “untrue and sensationalist claims” gathered during earlier investigations. Officials also keep repeating that, aside from Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, no one else has been charged over his alleged offending.
One name that comes up far more than most is New York publicist Peggy Siegal, a long‑time Hollywood and media fixer whose emails, guest lists and contact sheets appear thousands of times in the trove. Siegal, known for a “30,000‑strong contact list”, spent years inviting actors, directors and journalists to screenings and dinners organised or funded by Epstein, often acting as the bridge between his money and other people’s fame.
Peggy Siegal was Epstein’s publicist. (Image: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
In 2019 she told Variety she “did not know” Epstein had abused underage girls and said: “Had I known that he had been accused of abusing underage girls, I would not have maintained a friendship with him”, later explaining that he told her he had “served his time and assured me that he changed his ways”.
One email in the files has her relaying that she does not want “young girls with no last names” at a screening because the press will be there and “she requests ‘over 30’”.
Away from the celebrity focus, the Justice Department has also quietly sent Congress a six‑page letter listing hundreds of “politically exposed persons” whose names appear somewhere in the files, from presidents and business leaders to cultural figures, per celebrity.land.
The department says some people had extensive contact with Epstein or Maxwell, while others are mentioned only in passing in media reports or third‑party documents, and it has not broken down which is which for each person.
That approach has already sparked backlash, with representative Ro Khanna claiming the DOJ is “purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email”, while Republican Representative Nancy Mace has argued there are “missing names on the list disclosed this evening”.
What happens next will mostly play out in slow motion: more combing through documents, more pressure on the DOJ to clarify context, and likely more names dragged into the spotlight as politicians and journalists keep digging.
Lawmakers are already talking about further hearings and potential tweaks to the transparency law, while survivor advocates are pushing for the focus to stay on patterns of enabling, not just individual scandals.
Lead image: AP News
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pedestrian.tv ’
