A woman who said she was drugged and raped by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has spoken publicly for the first time to BBC Newsnight about her ordeal. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity and whom the BBC will refer to as Nicky, said she met the disgraced financier when she was 19, working as a model.
She said that after she gave him a massage at his waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, he gave her a drink of water, and she blacked out for hours, when she believes she was raped by Epstein. Nicky said she felt encouraged to come forward by other survivors sharing their stories. She is now calling for the US Department of Justice to release all its remaining files on Epstein.
'There's nothing you won't do to stop reliving all of it'
In an extensive interview with BBC Newsnight, Nicky described in detail Epstein's abuses. As other survivors of Epstein have recounted, Nicky's interaction with Epstein began with a massage. He asked her to remove her top and bra.
I honestly thought, OK, maybe it's just an old rich guy that has a fetish and so be it, she said. Whatever. I mean, it paid my rent. But a few weeks later, when Nicky returned to see Epstein, her encounter was different.
She told Epstein she was on her period, which was not true. He encouraged her to have sex with him anyway and proceeded to masturbate in front of her, Nicky recalled. She quickly got dressed and told herself she had to get the hell out of here. She went to the bathroom to wash the massage oil off her hands, and when she returned, Epstein offered her a sip of water.
I took some water and I have no recollection of anything for a minimum of 12 hours after that, Nicky said. She said she woke up feeling sick, sluggish, and heavy. Nicky believes Epstein drugged and sexually assaulted her.
Later that day, when Nicky saw Epstein, he asked her to massage him one more time before she left. That is when, she said, Epstein confirmed her worst suspicions. He once again tried to pull up my jeans, and I was like, 'no, no, I'm on my period' and he says, 'you don't have to lie to me, [Nicky], she said.
Nicky said she later realized that Epstein could only have known she was not menstruating because he must have raped her while she was unconscious.
In the aftermath of the abuse, Nicky recalled thoughts of whether her kids would be better off without her. I don't know how I made it, she said of surviving the abuse.
All Epstein files should be released 'properly, honestly, ethically'
Last November, US President Donald Trump signed into law legislation compelling the Justice Department to release all material from its investigations into Epstein. However, after millions of documents were released, the agency faced bipartisan backlash.
The fact that this public transparency had to be prompted by an act of Congress infuriated Nicky. That is absolutely a waste of my and everybody else's taxpayer dollars, complete waste, she said. She added that the name of the law, the Epstein Transparency Act, continues to glorify an abuser.
The two million files that have yet to be made public are ones Nicky said she wants to see released properly, honestly, ethically. I don't think that's too much to ask, she said. I would love for us to be able to heal. But healing when your abuser feels inescapable is difficult. Having it constantly brought up and thrown in our faces... it doesn't allow us to heal, she said. We survivors are nothing more than pawns for political discourse at this point, and it's disgusting.
