For decades, Jeffrey Epstein was considered an enigma. In casual blue jeans and with disheveled hair, the extremely rich Manhattan financier always exuded a certain smugness that was still noticeable even in snapshots.
He was known for his extensive contacts and cultivated an extensive, colorful circle of royals, world leaders, business giants, renowned scientists and thought leaders. Epstein portrayed himself as a cultural all-knower: He held court with director Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn and discussed the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman with them. When he declined an invitation to a symposium on improvised classical music, the organizer complained that his “musical thinking” would be missed. His Amazon account records him loudly Bloombergwhich evaluated dozens of his orders, as a well-read all-rounder – with books on philosophy, mathematics, investments, historical figures and “middlebrow erotica”.
But Epstein was not what he seemed. In July 2019, he was arrested and charged with running a human trafficking ring – so far-reaching and shrouded in secrecy that years after his death in August of that year, the world is still trying to piece together how he was able to run the illegal network so blatantly and for so long. Last month, under a bipartisan bill passed by Congress in November, the Justice Department released more than three million investigative files on a man now considered one of the most pro-life sex offenders in history – with hundreds of victims.
Myth and reality
The documents shed light not only on the extent of his crimes – and the network of powerful people around him – but also on the personality of an enigmatic criminal. The sheer volume of emails, text messages, business records, flight logs and credit card statements has begun to unravel the myths surrounding Epstein. They paint a picture of a man who was perhaps not the all-encompassing cultural aesthete that he portrayed himself to be to the influential people around him. His emails are dry, choppy and terse, riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Once touted as an investment genius with a brilliant mathematical mind, these lofty qualifications have now been seriously questioned. And strangely, he had a habit of badgering people to send him playlists of modern, upbeat songs – including David Guetta and Tiësto. (Two years before his death, he told a woman he was a fan of deep house music.)
Top genres “Soft Rock” and “Mellow Gold”
ROLLING STONE combed through thousands of these files to better understand Epstein’s everyday habits – particularly his taste in music. One of his friends told a co-worker that she thought his favorite pieces were Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from “Les Miserables.” In 2013, he asked a student to stop by his Upper East Side townhouse to talk to him about the French composer Claude Debussy and to teach him music theory. Epstein’s daily listening habits, however, were about what would be expected of many men born in 1953. According to his Spotify Wrapped for 2016, his top genres were “Soft Rock” and “Mellow Gold,” and his most listened to songs of the year were “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by Marion Williams, and “Hold On I’m Comin'” by Sam & Dave.
Epstein wanted his music with him everywhere – even at the dentist. His staff sent regular reminders to make sure his iPod was fully charged and he brought headphones to appointments. An early advocate of Spotify, he encouraged acquaintances and young women to download the app shortly after its launch in the United States in 2011. (Epstein briefly held a million-dollar investment in the company.) He regularly complained to his employees when his devices and audio systems in his many homes and vehicles didn’t automatically sync with his Spotify and iTunes accounts. He even had a “personal genius” on speed dial for password problems and technical glitches. (The IT specialist did not respond to ROLLING STONE’s inquiries.)
Playlists to order
Emails show that Epstein repeatedly pressured people to compile and send him playlists – he wanted USB sticks of songs he could play in the car and on his private jet, and in May 2017 asked a woman to compile tracks that she “just liked”. That same month, French pianist Simon Ghraichy sent Epstein the Air France playlist for the current month and offered, “If you need a playlist for your plane, I could take care of it” – pointing out that he would “avoid Hispanic.” (Ghraichy did not respond to ROLLING STONE’s request for comment.)
Beginning in 2011, Epstein curated several Spotify playlists and added “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel in 2012 and “Little Drummer Boy” by Whitney Houston feat. in 2013. Bobbi Kristina Brown to a playlist titled “random.” Another Spotify account that Business Insider previously associated with Epstein, showed playlists of Elton John, Broadway musicals, the Beatles, Beethoven, jazz, classical and “Gosapel” music. In addition to Epstein’s stated musical preferences, there were also some noticeably more youthful playlists with pop and dance tracks named after Pitbull and the theme of sports.
In several email exchanges, Epstein’s seemingly innocuous requests for new music were followed by mild reprimands when he didn’t receive the playlists promptly. In October 2011, an unidentified sender who had Epstein’s contact saved as “Uncle F” sent the financier a list of club songs – after signaling that he would be more willing to help her invite a guest speaker for an upcoming school event if “Uncle F gets the playlist he was promised.”
Blame for forgetting playlists
The student, who had previously told him she hadn’t had time to put songs together because she was “so so so stressed out with school,” ended up sending over a dance-focused tracklist, including EDM remixes of Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” and Florence & the Machine’s “Shake It Out.” Many of the suggested songs ended up on his public playlist called “Celina” – the name of the daughter of billionaire couple Glenn and Eva Dubin, who were friends with Epstein. Eva, a former Swedish model, was one of his early girlfriends in the 1980s and was described by those close to Epstein as the love of his life. Epstein maintained a close relationship with her daughter Celina, whom he reportedly referred to as his goddaughter. (The Dubins have denied that Epstein was Celina’s godfather, a family spokesman said New York Post Recently, the release of Celina’s emails with Epstein was improperly handled by the Justice Department. The Dubin Family Foundation did not immediately respond to ROLLING STONE’s request for comment.)
Songs like “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” by Elvis Presley and “California Girls”
In February 2012, Epstein reprimanded another young woman for forgetting to send him music. “I planned my day around you,” he wrote in an error-filled email. “You haven’t been nice to me, no playlist. After a month you tell me you don’t do anything all day except relax in the apartment I give you, and then you tell me sorry, I don’t have time for playlist. You’re wonderful,” but I’m very disappointed in the way you treat me as a friend.” In another email from the same October, an acquaintance asks, “What new music would make you happy while swimming, or should I just choose?” – and a fourth sender appears to have created a personalized playlist for Epstein’s workouts in 2013.
Epstein also received unsolicited music recommendations from his circle of acquaintances: emails show unrecognized senders sharing songs like “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” by Elvis Presley and “California Girls” by German electronic artist NoMBe; his last known girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak, sent him a handful of Banks songs to listen to in 2015. Years earlier, Mette-Marit, the Crown Princess of Norway, had recommended that Epstein listen to jazz singer Solveig Slettahjell’s album “Antologie” – it reminded her of “autumn and heartbreak in all forms.” When a woman asked him in 2017 what genres of music he listened to, Epstein replied that he enjoyed “many different types,” including “classical. deep house. r and b and jazz.”
iTunes, apps and movies
Before moving to Spotify, Epstein spent thousands of dollars on iTunes purchases — including songs like “Butterfly Kisses” in 2010 — and downloaded silly apps like FatBooth, a face-distortion tool, as well as international messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal. A significant portion of the spending was on films rented or purchased through Epstein’s account, including the horror-rock musical “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” Jessica Alba’s “Honey” and the adult version of “Hot Tub Time Machine.”
Whether Epstein watched these films alone or with others is unclear—some email histories indicate that he allowed guests at his various residences to stream titles through his account. He also shared his credentials with his girlfriend: American Express card charges in Shuliak’s name show downloads of seasons of “Madam Secretary,” “Friends,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder.” However, some of the films may also have suited Epstein’s own tastes – including downloads of “The Buddha – The Story of Siddhartha” and “Eyes Wide Shut” in 2010 and “Dangerous Liaisons” and “The Affair of the Necklace” in 2017.
In late May 2018, Epstein emailed Shuliak a list of movie titles — and complained to his technology specialist that same day that his iPad was having trouble downloading movies. Titles mentioned included “Airplane,” “Animal House,” “Forrest Gump,” “Silence of the Lambs,” “Rocky,” “My Fair Lady” and “The Sound of Music.”
The millions of declassified documents help dismantle the aura of mystery that Epstein carefully constructed – and reveal a pro-life criminal who used the semblance of culture, taste and access to commit extraordinary abuse. What remains is the image of a man who largely lacked the sophistication he claimed for himself.
