Brad Pitt's rumored former fling Neri Oxman apologizes to MIT students for taking $125,000 research funds from Jeffrey Epstein
American–Israeli designer Neri Oxman has apologized to her MIT students after Mediated Matter Group, which she led, received $125,000 in funds from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein following a meeting in 2015. Convicted sex offender Epstein, 66, committed suicide on August 10 by hanging himself in his Manhattan jail cell. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls as young as 14.
The professor, in a statement to Dezeen, said she regretted the incident, adding that she met Epstein for the first and the last time in October 2015. "I regret having received funds from Epstein, and deeply apologize to my students for their inadvertent involvement in this mess," Oxman said in the statement.
"In October 2015, Joi Ito, Director of the Media Lab, asked me to make a presentation about my group's research to Jeffrey Epstein along with other members of the MIT faculty who also presented their work. As part of my job at the Media Lab, I give presentations to sponsors and potential donors typically several times a week," the statement continued. "This was the first and only time I met Epstein."
The professor said the donation had been confidential. "From Epstein's gifts to the Media Lab, my group received $125,000 with MIT's requirement that it be kept confidential so as to not enhance his reputation by association with MIT, and with the understanding that he would not be considered a sponsor of our group's research or have any involvement in how the funds were spent," she said.
Oxman, who is currently on maternity leave, said she had been assured by Ito that "Epstein an approved donor who wished to devote his fortune to science and technology, in part to make amends for wrongs he had committed earlier in his life." The then Director had "vouched" for the donor's sincerity and "desire to do good." "I took him at his word," Oxman said. Ito resigned from his post on September 7 after allegations surfaced of him trying to hide donations from Epstein to the lab. He is also said to have accepted $1.2 million towards personal investments.
Oxman was rumored to be dating actor Brad Pitt in 2018, soon after his split from Angelina Jolie. However, the 42-year-old slammed rumors saying she was seeing someone else, in an interview with the New York Times. She said she was actually dating hedge funder William A. Ackman but would love to work with Pitt in any future projects.