Billionaire and massaging young-thing procurer Jeffrey Epstein has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to felony charges. After his sentence, he'll return home for a year-long house arrest and a slot in Florida's sex offender registry. [TSG] The biggest surprise? The New York Times, which took four hundred years to finally report on the Epstein scandal, already carries a wire report of the news.
Jeffrey Epstein, who is famous for hanging with Bill Clinton and allegedly inviting underage girls over for massages, is getting sued. Again. A woman who claims Epstein molested her when she was 16 during a $200 "massage" wants $50 million for the imposition. [AP]
"Here’s the good thing about a trend in sex tourism," writes our racially/ethnically diverse younger sibling, Stereohyped.
"It doesn’t entail rich white men traveling to third world countries to prey on underaged girls and boys." (With the possible exception of Jeffrey "I Devirginized The Virgin Islands" Epstein.) Meanwhile, it does, however, "entail rich white women traveling to places like Kenya to live out their Mandingo fantasies with 20-something men who will only have sex with them in exchange for new sneakers and free meals."
Disturbing? On many, many levels. In fact, despite the alarming AIDS epidemic, local Kenyans estimate that approximately 20% of "single female visitors" are trolling the beaches for sex. So the next time an undersexed, overprivileged WASP prissily informs you she's heading to Kenya, bear in mind that there's at least a 1 in 5 chance she's looking to open up a whole lot more than her pocketbook once she gets there.
Might Jeffrey Epstein's publicist Howard Rubenstein colluded with also-client The New York Post to plant scurrilous items about Epstein accuser Maximila Cordero? MAYBE! CONTINUED »
So you know how Jeffrey Epstein (allegedly) has a thing for underage girls, especially those of the transsexual teen prostitute variety? Well, thanks to today's R&M column, now we know exactly how he lured them in. (Nope, it wasn't Mystery's patented brand of lame pickup lines and backhanded compliments). Turns out, the man who singlehandedly de-virginized the Virgin Islands had a little help from his wingman, Tommy.
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein has a friend in music man Tommy Mottola, we hear. Epstein, who faces charges of consorting with underage girls, "used to tell certain girls that he could get them record contracts," says a source. "He'd bring them up to Tommy's office to audition. Tommy did it as a favor to Jeffrey."
Yes, purely as a favor to his old pal Jeff! And not at all because Mottola also has a thing for signing young girls to his label, exploiting them with promises of grandeur then marrying them on the very same day they turn 18 years old.
What's the only thing worse than getting busted having sex with an underage girl? Getting busted soliciting sex from teen hookers at your Palm Beach estate, then getting sued by "a drug-addicted, transgender model" who claims "he/she was pressured into having sex"* with you at the age of 16. Oh, and all that while fending off reports that you essentially screwed every underage girl in the Virgin Islands. Reports P6:
Sources say the former math teacher, who owns the lush, tropical island of Little St. James, off the coast of St. Thomas, regularly ferried boatloads of young women there.
We apologize in advance for being redundant, but the phrase "ferried boatloads of young women there" bears repeating. Sigh. Hey, remember the days when we used to accuse Page Six (and the Murdoch-owned New York Post) of withholding potentially damaging information on Epstein for murky political reasons? Now, as it turns out, that ship** has sailed.
*How long before Richard Johnson is called out on labeling transgendered people as "he/she's"?
**Along with the ferried boatloads of young woman
Witness: The umpteenth item about Jeffrey Epstein in Page Six, where former Jossip editor Corynne Steindler now works. Corynne, as you'll recall, made it part of her job to taunt the New York Times into reporting on Epstein's underage activities, which they finally found the courage to do, months after the story broke.
Good to see homegirl is carrying on the torch.
If Doug Stumpf's "Confessions of A Wall Street Shoe-Shine Boy" truly is a "thinly disguised tale based on accused pervy billionaire Jeffrey Epstein," then we're going to have to start reading the business pages again.
And according to Page Six, there are plenty of similarities between Epstein and the novel's anti-hero, Jeff Steed, including (but not limited to) a partiality for pretty young things, a joint affinity for ugly, nouveau riche mansions and a pesky insider trading scandal.
With the exodus from Out continuing in the form of West Coast editor Jeffrey Epstein decamping for Us Weekly, word arrives that the new regime at the Wenner tabloid's L.A. outpost is taking shape.
With Epstein in place at Us's West Coast entertainment editor, he joins former Out mastheader Martha Flores, who was recently installed as the West Coast news director after a stint running a gay porn company and has, at least in practice, replaced Ken Baker (who now oversees UsMagazine.com).
Now, like a good top editor, Flores is ramping up her operation with old cronies. Out the door is Baker's old assistant, Shayna Arnold, and Baker's freelancer, Patti Ramos. In Ramos' place is former Out staffer Shana Naomi Krochmal, who's already been working the red carpet, says a knowledgeable insider. (Leaning toward the offensive, another source snipes: "Leave it to the bull dyke [Flores] to stock her pen with her own kind.")
Baker's nanny-cum-reporter Pernilla Cedenheim, interestingly, has held on to her job as a contract freelancer.
You know the name Jeffrey Epstein as the billionaire financier whose teenage South Beach massages got him into a little trouble with the law. But that's not the only Jeffrey Epstein whose news needs your radar! This other J.E. is the West Coast editor at Out magazine.
Well, at least he is until tomorrow.
CONTINUED »
Harvard, not content with the cash they're raking in from parents of potential students who go on to own the New York Observer is now taking sticky money from accused child molester/rapist Jeffrey Epstein.
The Ivy League university says it'll keep a $6.5 million donation from Jeffrey Epstein, despite the billionaire's arrest two months ago on charges of soliciting sex from hookers at his Palm Beach mansion. The Harvard Crimson newspaper also reports that Mort Zuckerman's former business partner may give another $23 million to Harvard.
It's the Post so of course you get the Zuck mention, but that doesn't really concern us. Actually, Harvard taking kiddie porn cash to buy books and renovate buildings and stuff doesn't really concern us either. We just hope they clean all the lube off first. And give some of it to the women's studies department.
DIRTY MONEY? [Page Six]
Holy God. Is this really happening? After about a month of asking why the New York Times won't cover the recent allegations against Jeffrey Esptein (that he ran an underage sex ring in his home and on his private jet) we finally have resolution.
The New York Times finally goes after Epstein, leaving us to no longer question their preferential treatment of the rich and powerful. We honestly thought we would never see the day when the Times reported this story, let alone the day we would see these details in the Gray Lady.
In sworn statements to the police, the 14-year-old and other teenage girls said a friend had arranged for them to visit Mr. Epstein’s home and give him massages, usually in their underwear, in exchange for cash.
Most of the girls, according to the police, said Mr. Epstein had masturbated during the massages, and a few said he had penetrated them with his fingers or penis. They identified him in photos and accurately described the inside of his home.
Even though instead of "rape" they use "intercourse" and they leave out the vibrators and girl on girl, we couldn't be more pleased that the Times finally acknowledged that a powerful guy like Epstein, who has had his hands in media, finance, and politics, has also had his hands in plenty of underage girls.
Questions of Preferential Treatment Are Raised in Sex Case Against Money Manager [Abby Goodnough]
Happy Monday everyone. We apologize for cutting you off on Friday, but all seems to be running a bit more smoothly today. It seems like we didn't miss much of anything, anyways … which is why we love that we already have a juicy Page Six blind item to kick off the week.
WHICH news anchor's boorish behavior forced his network to shell out big bucks to several women so they would drop their sexual harassment claims? He invited the ladies out to dinner - where he often couldn't keep his hands to himself - and then badgered them to come back to his apartment. Now the network is instituting mandatory sexual-harassment-awareness classes . . .
Ok, we know most news anchors are a little skeevey. Usually we would use Matt Lauer and his love of interns as an example. But when a networks is paying off women not to talk about being sexually harassed, well, that's just wrong. Like Jeffrey Epstein wrong.
So do you know who their talking about? Send us your tips, guesses, and/or insider info. It would make our day complete to find out this is Keith Olbermann.
Just Asking [Page Six]
In case you were watching Primetime's "Outsiders" series about people who love animals and then get attacked by them, and you missed the Miss Teen USA pageant (how could you?) here's what you're horndog middle aged co-workers are chatting about at the water cooler.
Miss Montana. There she is. Katie Blair. Not only did she beat out the other girls in the swimsuit and evening gown competition, but she knows how to form sentences as well. Are your socks totally knocked the fuck off, yet? No? Well, check out her prizes then.
Blair succeeds Miss Teen USA 2005, Allie LaForce of Ohio. Winnings include a scholarship to New York School of Film and Television, a year of living in Trump Tower, a wardrobe and a Mikimoto tiara.
If the girl can win a teen swimsuit competition, she should have saved herself a lot of practice and just gotten a job with Jeffrey Epstein. Then she would have gotten a private plane ride, two years in the tower, and a lifetime's supply of massage oil.
The New York Post/Daily News war is always willingly put aside for the great cause of gossip. And today's big gossip is that Mr. Daily News, Mort Zuckerman, has fired his publicist, Donna Dees.
Of course a crew of Newsers talked to Page Six, and told them Dees' firing was part of a swell of axings at the News, where employees who were hired under Les Goodstein (former News prez) are no longer being tolerated.
"If you don't come out and swear undying allegiance to [News CEO] Mark Kramer and [Editor-in-Chief] Martin Dunn, your days are numbered," one Newser told us. "Kramer and Dunn are paranoid about anyone having anything to do with Les or The Post."
However, our sources don't lay blame on the Post, but the New York Times. The gossip we're hearing is that Mort Zuckerman "loves the New York Times more than his own tabloid," and wanted to see some face time on the cover of the Grey Lady. Dees couldn't get him the press he wanted in the Times, so … well, you already know she's out.
Maybe the Post is right (or maybe they just wanted to plug themselves in their own story?) or maybe our tipster is. Who knows? But we really don't think it was fair to fire Dees either way. The Times won't talk about Mort's BFF Jeffrey Epstein either — so, we really think this task might be a little out of Dees' hands.
REIGN OF TERROR AT NEWS [Page Six]
Editorial Director
