Vanity Fair Publishes Softened Epstein Profile by Vicky Ward
Vanity Fair published Vicky Ward's profile of Epstein with victim testimony removed. The published article omitted allegations from two sisters who had accused Epstein of abuse, after editor Graydon Carter made the decision to cut their accounts.
People Involved
In March 2003, Vanity Fair published a profile of Jeffrey Epstein written by journalist Vicky Ward, headlined “The Talented Mr. Epstein.” The published article was more favorable than the material Ward had gathered warranted.
The most consequential omission was testimony Ward had obtained from two sisters who alleged Epstein had sexually abused them when they were minors. Editor Graydon Carter cut the sisters’ accounts before publication. The reasons given — legal concerns and sourcing issues — were disputed by Ward, who believed the material had been suppressed under pressure from Epstein’s social connections.
The published profile, while probing about Epstein’s mysterious wealth origins, presented him largely as a fascinating and eccentric billionaire. Had the sisters’ allegations been published, the case for legal investigation would have been substantially strengthened years before the 2005 police complaint that initiated the Palm Beach investigation.