"He liked the fear": women tell of Epstein scandal

ARCHIVE - Documents with redacted passages from the Jeffrey Epstein files are shown in Washington (archive photo). Photo: Jon Elswick/AP/dpa - ATTENTION: For editorial use only in connection with current reporting and only with full attribution to the above credit

Keystone

In a BBC interview, five women gave powerful accounts of their experiences of abuse in connection with the scandal surrounding sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Keystone-SDA

25.03.2026, 14:19

"He liked the fear in our eyes," says one of the women in the program "Newsnight", from which the broadcaster published excerpts in advance. "I think he liked the fact that we were frozen and scared and didn't know what to do, and I think that excited him."

The US multimillionaire, who died on remand in 2019, had run an abuse ring with a large number of victims for years. Epstein maintained excellent contacts in high society. A number of prominent figures appear in the files on the investigation published by the US Department of Justice in recent months. Mentioning them by name is not yet proof of misconduct.

The smile has disappeared

Some of the women talk about the moments when they met Epstein. During the program, they show photos of themselves that are said to have been taken around this time. "I no longer smile in the same way," says one of the women about her 18-year-old self - photographed at a moment before the abuse is said to have begun. "I was enjoying my life and I had no idea what I was in for."

The women do not believe in the official version, according to which Epstein took his own life in his cell at the age of 66. "Whoever killed him silenced him," says one of the women. Another says: "He knew he would get away with it."