Victoria's Secret REVEALED: How pedo Jeffrey Epstein gave lingerie brand the glamor its owner couldn't
At first glance, Jeffrey Epstein and Les Wexner were a rather unlikely duo. But at the same time, they needed each other in order to survive. The disgraced financier shared a decades-long friendship with the Victoria’s Secret billionaire. In fact, Epstein once joked that he and Wexner "share a brain."
In the forthcoming Hulu docuseries, 'Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons', out Thursday, July 14, associates of the former duo revealed how they were bound by more than just ambition. The clothing tycoon had amassed a net worth of more than $5 billion from his chic apparel shops, but lacked the New York savoir-faire he needed to make a big splash in the city. Epstein -- a college dropout who charmed his way into powerful roles on Wall Street -- provided him just that. It's important to note that Wexner has claimed complete ignorance of Epstein's sexual exploits.
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“Wexner had the money that Epstein was seeking, and Wexner got from Epstein the glamour and smoothness that he was seeking,” Cindy Fedus-Fields, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret Direct, told producers of the three-part docuseries. However, their relationship was rather lopsided. Wexner anointed Epstein as his money manager despite getting almost nothing in return, at least on paper. The billionaire knew, however, that what the pervert lacked in assets he made up with his smooth-talking ways.
“When Les Wexner met Jeffrey Epstein, he apparently remarked that [Epstein] was so exciting,” Barry Levine, author of Epstein exposé 'The Spider', told producers. “He was everything that Les Wexner thought was lacking in Ohio.”
Wexner's empire back in the early 1980s stretched from just owning 'The Limited' -- which he launched in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in 1963 -- to acquiring Victoria's Secret. Wexner purchased the lingerie brand from founders Roy and Gaye Raymond for $1 million, and was looking to make waves among the Big Apple's elite. In 1985, he purchased the lavish Fifth Avenue emporium, Henri Bendel, for just under $10 million in a bid to impress the city's crème de la crème. “He wanted that New York cachet, and that was a way to buy into it,” Teri Agins, author of 'The End of Fashion,' says in the film. “He invited Jackie Onassis to the christening of the store … because he wanted that respect with New York society and high fashion New York.”
However, despite Wexner's best efforts, the city's elite considered him as nothing more than a mere “pimple on New York’s backside,” according to Michael Gross, author of 'Model'. Enter Epstein -- the business and streetwise ally Wexner had been yearning for. Indeed, the mogul was so impressed with his urbanity that he gave him unrestricted access to his businesses and wealth. “Epstein was extraordinarily mesmerizing and could convince anything of anybody,” his former business partner Steven J Hoffenberg says in the film, adding, “[He was the] master manipulator.”
Epstein also did not think twice before taking advantage of his benefactor's growing clout and influence. In 1993, the late pedophile was caught posing as a recruiter for Victoria's Secret catalog models. According to Fedus-Fields, he was using his connection with Wexner as bait to attract unsuspecting, young beauties.
In 1997, former Playboy pinup Alicia Arden filed a sexual battery report in Santa Monica, California, alleging Epstein sexually "manhandled" her in his hotel room during a meeting about posing in a Victoria's Secret mailer. While it's unclear if Wexner was informed about the incident, the magnate continued praising Epstein in public. “Wexner told Vanity Fair, in 2003, that Epstein was ‘very smart with a combination of excellent judgment and unusually high standard. Also, he’s always the most loyal friend,’” Washington Post journalist Sarah Ellison quotes in the docuseries, adding, “Epstein had to have had some kind of hold over Wexner.”
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However, Wexner and Epstein's close bond appeared to weaken in 2006, when the latter was caught sexually abusing minors in his Palm Beach, Florida estate. Wexner began completely distancing himself from the sexual deviant by the time of his 2019 arrest. The fashion mogul spoke for himself concerning his former pal's misdeeds, saying he was also one of several victims of Epstein's manipulative schemes. “Everyone has to feel enormous regret for the advantage that was taken of so many young women. That just unexplainable, abhorrent behavior clearly is something we all would condemn,” Wexner, now 84, said in a televised address featured in the film.
“Being taken advantage of by someone so sick, so cunning, so depraved is something that I’m embarrassed that I was even close to,” he added, despite having given Epstein an estimated $400 million during their decades-long relationship, the New York Post reported.