Ghislaine Maxwell: What to Know About Her Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein

Christian Long

07/11/2020 12:28 am EDT

Following the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was taken into custody by the FBI on July 2, it's renewed the conversation about her long, somewhat unclear relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was charged with four counts of sex-trafficking minors and two counts of perjury, all for allegedly helping Jeffrey Epstein in the sex trafficking of minors.

Maxwell potentially faces a maximum of 35 years in prison, if she is convicted on all charges. Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex-trafficking charges and died behind bars in August. His death was ruled a suicide, though many have been skeptical of this considering he was known to associate with many high-profile figures. Including some of Epstein's own council. Following Maxwell's arrest, another longtime friend and TV personality Christopher Mason has alleged that she likely has copies of elicit videos of Epstein and others.

"Ghislaine has always been as cunning as they come. She wasn't going to be with Epstein all those years and not have some insurance," Mason told the Daily Mail. "The secret stash of sex tapes I believe Ghislaine has squirreled away could end up being her get-out-of-jail card if the authorities are willing to trade. She has copies of everything Epstein had. They could implicate some twisted movers and shakers. If Ghislaine goes down, she's going to take the whole damn lot of them with her."

Given Mason's ominous warning, which doesn't end there, there's a lot potentially at stake with Maxwell behind bars. Here's a look at her decades-long relationship with Epstein.

The Initial Meeting

Maxwell first met Epstein in the early 1990s at a New York party, and the two had a romantic relationship with Epstein for several years. While they remained close in the years following their breakup, the exact nature of their relationship wasn't clear.

The 2009 Deposition

(Photo: Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images)

At a deposition in 2009, a number of Epstein's household employees testified that he referred to her as his "main girlfriend" who also hired, fired, and supervised his staff starting around 1992. She was also referred to as the "Lady of the House" by the staff and as his "aggressive assistant."

The 'Vanity Fair' Profile

In 2003, Epstein was profiled by Vanity Fair, where Epstein referred to Maxwell as "my best friend." It was also observed that Maxwell seemed "to organize much of his life."

The Prince Andrew Connection

(Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, Getty)

Maxwell was also friends with Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and famously escorted him to a "hookers and pimps" social function in New York. She also introduced him to Epstein and the three were often spotted at social functions together. In November 2019, Prince Andrew told the BBC that Maxwell and Epstein had attended an event at his invitation, but he denied that it was anything more than a "straightforward shooting weekend."

Epstein's 2008 Conviction

Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008 and served 13 months of an 18-month jail sentence. After his release, the two were rarely seen in public together. By the end of 2015, it seemed that Maxwell had largely avoided social functions altogether.

The Mason Warning

(Photo: Davidoff Studios Photography / Contributor / Getty, Getty)

Mason made clear that "not only did Epstein like to capture himself with underage girls on camera, he wanted to make sure he had something to hold over the rich and powerful men who took advantage of his sick largesse." He went on to say that "once it comes out that Ghislaine has those tapes, these men will be quaking in their Italian leather boots."

"Ghislaine made sure that she socked away thumb drives of it all," he added. "She knows where all the bodies are buried, and she'll use whatever she had to save her own a—."

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