Epstein pressured billionaire media owner to alter abuse coverage, files show

Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein pressured billionaire media mogul Mortimer Zuckerman to alter negative coverage in the New York Daily News tabloid following his 2008 Florida conviction for soliciting prostitution, recently released US Justice Department documents show.

Epstein, who died in 2019, emailed Zuckerman on Oct. 9, 2009, providing a draft response denying abuse allegations against him and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell including claims involving an underage victim and a database of minors, according to the latest batch of Epstein files released, late last month.

In the proposed response shared with Zuckerman, Epstein claimed that "no sex occurred" with a victim identified as Jane Doe 102.

The message characterized allegations as "malicious fabrications designed to" get the legal clients of Bradley Edwards-a lawyer who represented many of Epstein's accusers - more money.

Epstein requested Maxwell's name be removed, adding that the initial plaintiff "admitted in a sworn videotaped statement that she lied and was a [sic] escort, call girl since age 15."

In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.

Zuckerman, then-owner of the Daily News tabloid, replied in part that the news outlet is "doing major editing over huge objections."

Zuckerman, a Canadian-American billionaire born in 1937, is owner and publisher of the US News & World Report brand and its editor-in-chief. He formerly owned the New York Daily News, The Atlantic, and Fast Company, with an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion as of August 2024.

The Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related documents on Jan. 30 under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed by President Donald Trump last November.

Many US lawmakers, as well as Epstein survivors and victims' relatives, say the release falls short of what the law requires and omits much vital information.

Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.