Did Epstein keep tapes of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton & Richard Branson? (update: denied)
Update by CB, as received from Virgin Press: In response to the false allegations published on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 January 2024 and reported in the media, the Virgin Group has confirmed that the claim in question is false, baseless and unfounded.
A Virgin Group spokesperson confirmed:
“We categorically reject all allegations made by Sarah Ransome. In 2016, Ms Ransome retracted her claims and then in 2019 after settling her claims with Epstein and Maxwell, she also admitted to The New Yorker that the “tapes” had been “invented”. The allegations are baseless and unfounded.
“The actions of Jeffrey Epstein were abhorrent and we support the right to justice for the many victims impacted by his abuse.”
In 2016 SR retracted her claims and then in 2019 after settling her claims with Epstein and Maxwell she publicly admitted she had invented the story and through her own admission confirmed that her original claims were baseless. Any suggestion that Sir Richard Branson was involved in a “sex tape” is entirely false and will be treated with utmost seriousness.
For years now, there have been rumors that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell kept extensive blackmail/protection material involving powerful men abusing trafficked girls and women. I’ve always believed that there are tapes somewhere. I’ve always believed that Maxwell and Epstein held enough evidence to bring down many powerful figures in politics, business and law enforcement. Nothing has ever come to light, although there are plenty of rumors that when Epstein was first investigated and charged in 2005, law enforcement gathered a lot of the blackmail material from Epstein’s Florida mansion, and no one knows where that stuff is now. My point is that it’s not like one person – a trafficking victim – said “he has tapes” out of nowhere. There have been stories and rumors about all of this for a long time. Still, the newly unsealed Epstein Files show that one victim did claim that tapes exist of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Richard Branson, but she later said she just made that up.
Sex tapes are alleged to have been taken of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Sir Richard Branson by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents have revealed.
Sarah Ransome, who says she was a victim of Epstein, wrote in emails to a reporter in 2016 outlining claims the Duke of York, the ex-US president and the billionaire businessman were filmed having sex with her unnamed friend on separate occasions by the paedophile US financier.
A firm representing Epstein’s lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, highlighted the allegations to demonstrate Ms Ransome “manifestly lacks credibility”. The claims were included in hundreds of documents that a US judge has ordered to be unsealed as part of a civil claim by Andrew’s accuser Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, which was filed in 2015 and settled in 2017.
Despite the defamation case being concluded seven years ago, the Miami Herald successfully fought to make the names and documents associated with it public.
Ms Ransome gave a victim impact statement ahead of Epstein’s former girlfriend and long-time associate Maxwell being sentenced for sex trafficking in 2022. A New Yorker article, released in 2019, reported Ms Ransome admitted “she had invented the tapes to draw attention to Epstein’s behaviour, and to make him believe that she had ‘evidence that would come out if he harmed me'”.
On behalf of Sir Richard Branson, a Virgin Group spokeswoman said: “In a New Yorker report published in 2019, Ransome admitted that she had ‘invented’ the tapes. We can confirm that Sarah Ransome’s claims are baseless and unfounded.”
Mr Clinton’s representatives have not commented after being approached by Sky News.
As I said, the root of this rumor is not Sarah Ransome just making up some wild story in 2016. Ransome, like Virginia Giuffre, was trying to be heard and trying to get justice. They were all trying to get people to pay attention to their situation, all while Maxwell and Epstein carried on like nothing happened (circa 2016, remember). I believe that tapes exist, or did exist at some point. There’s a reason why Trump’s AG Bill Barr ran to Ghislaine’s jail cell as soon as she was finally picked up and arrested. There’s a reason why Epstein’s 2019 arrest sent a cold chill down a lot of spines – people still believe that blackmail material is out there, somewhere. I absolutely believe that Andrew was dumb and degenerate enough to be caught on tape. But Bill Clinton? Richard Branson? I genuinely hope that neither man was involved in anything like this.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
- Bill Clinton 2022 Clinton Global Initiative held at Hilton Midtown Tuesday September 20, 2022 in New York Cit Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com,Image: 724909180, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Bill Clinton, Credit line: J Graylock / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Bill Clinton 2022 Clinton Global Initiative held at Hilton Midtown Tuesday September 20, 2022 in New York Cit Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com,Image: 724909228, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Bill Clinton, Credit line: J Graylock / JPI Studios / Avalon
- Richard Branson during the presentation of the new Italian Virgin Company, Rome, Italy 18 Oct 2022,Image: 731486614, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Rossella Papetti / AGF Foto / Avalon
- Richard Branson during the presentation of the new Italian Virgin Company, Rome, Italy 18 Oct 2022,Image: 731486647, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Rossella Papetti / AGF Foto / Avalon
- Los Angeles, CA – **FILE PHOTOS** Prince Andrew smiling as he stands with his left arm around the waist of a young Virginia Roberts. It is alleged to have been taken in early 2001. Ghislaine Maxwell stands behind. *Editorial Use Only* see Special Instructions. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, Ghislaine Maxwell BACKGRID USA 17 NOVEMBER 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / UK: +44 208 344 2007 / *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – **FILE PHOTOS** Questioned for his connection with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew “puts an end to his public commitments.” The Prince recently discussed Epstein in a BBC interview and has subsequently been dropped by businesses and charities affiliated with him in an effort to distance themselves from the negative publicity. Pictured: Prince Andrew, Duke of York BACKGRID USA 20 NOVEMBER 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / UK: +44 208 344 2007 / *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – Buckingham Palace has announced Prince Andrew, the Duke of York has been stripped of all military titles and patronages and will no longer use his HRH title as he defends his sexual abuse case as a private citizen. Pictured: HRH Prince Andrew BACKGRID USA 13 JANUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / UK: +44 208 344 2007 / *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – The British Royal Prince Andrew takes an early morning ride out in Windsor, UK. Pictured: Prince Andrew BACKGRID USA 27 JULY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / UK: +44 208 344 2007 / *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
