Former models are connecting their experiences as investigations in France and elsewhere examine the people and institutions around Epstein.<\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-ilelael.nitrocdn.com\/iArqSTQyOJCAcmCEoQrhCUIOjYnkEEmQ\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-df849b1\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2278036401.jpg\")
Epstein survivor Liz Stein holds up a redacted document outside a House Oversight Committee after a closed-door meeting with former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Capitol Hill on May 29, 2026. (Andrew Harnik \/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPart 3 of The Pipeline to Predators<\/a><\/em>, a four-part Ms<\/em>. investigation into the modeling industry\u2019s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and survivors\u2019 fight for accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\nSara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance<\/a>, says the organization has spoken with hundreds of sexual abuse survivors. She\u2019s come to understand that the abuse she and others suffered was part of a larger pattern in the modeling industry. <\/p>\n\u201cThe more you talk to people, the more you connect the dots, and you realize that you were not the only one. That this wasn\u2019t just some freakish thing that happened to you, that you were actually part of a trafficking scheme,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Stacey Williams says that since others have come forward to tell their stories, \u201cThey made me realize that everything was far more orchestrated than I had considered. \u2026 Almost like a setup.\u201d <\/p>\n
And Lisa Phillips believes that what happened to her and the other victims, including the models connected to Epstein, was trafficking.<\/p>\n
The models interviewed by Ms<\/em>. say they are aware of other former models who were abused by powerful men, but who have not come forward, many of them fearing for their safety or the safety of their families. <\/p>\n\u201cThe No. 1 reason,\u201d Williams explains, \u201cis that they don\u2019t want to bring the backlash, the death threats, the vitriol, the misogyny into the lives [of] their children.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-ilelael.nitrocdn.com\/iArqSTQyOJCAcmCEoQrhCUIOjYnkEEmQ\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-df849b1\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-774789.jpg\")
Models Georgianna Robertson, Stacey Williams, Rebecca Romijn, founding editor of the Sports Illustrated<\/em> Swimsuit Issue Jule Campbell, model Valeria Mazza and model Tyra Banks at a Sports Illustrated<\/em> event on Jan. 23, 1996, in New York City. (Evan Agostini \/ Liaison via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs more survivors do come forward, they\u2019re gaining strength from one another, revealing previously hidden facts and demanding accountability. <\/p>\n
Phillips says she\u2019s optimistic that investigations will happen, highlighting the momentum that\u2019s been building among Epstein survivors since they first gathered on Capitol Hill in September 2025 to demand the release of the Epstein files: \u201cWe created a movement since September. It\u2019s become a powerful movement.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-ilelael.nitrocdn.com\/iArqSTQyOJCAcmCEoQrhCUIOjYnkEEmQ\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-df849b1\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Presser010-copy-1-1024x683.jpg\")
Lisa Phillips outside the Capitol at a press conference Sept. 3, 2025, calling for passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. (Jenny Warburg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThat movement extends beyond the modeling industry to survivors recruited and abused through other means. Together, they\u2019re pressing for investigation, transparency and accountability from the people and systems that failed them.<\/p>\n
In a pivotal moment, many of these survivors met at a rally that same September organized by World Without Exploitation<\/a>, a national, survivor-led coalition working to end human trafficking. They connected and shared their stories, many of them for the first time.<\/p>\nRachel Foster, cofounder and president of World Without Exploitation, describes the work toward accountability since then as happening 24\/7. In collaboration with a group of Epstein survivors, her organization launched multipronged public education and media campaigns and lobbied legislators across party lines for months. The group sees this work as a moral imperative: As Foster says, \u201cIf we can\u2019t be courageous in this moment, when can we be?\u201d<\/p>\n
This sustained organizing and renewed pressure led to Congress passing the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. But advocates say far more remains to be done. They\u2019re looking for greater action from Congress and the states, noting that after the partial and botched release by the DOJ<\/a>\u2014which exposed survivors\u2019 personal information while redacting and protecting the identities of many Epstein associates and alleged abusers\u2014at least 2.5 million documents remain unreleased.<\/p>\nAttorney and independent journalist Katie Phang has brought a groundbreaking lawsuit<\/a> seeking to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), requiring the Justice Department to release all mandated records and provide specific legal justifications for all withheld documents and redactions.\u00a0\u201cI knew that I was waiting for something to happen that was never gonna happen. I was waiting for the right thing to be done by this administration and the DOJ, and I would be an idiot to keep on waiting. And so that\u2019s when we decided to file suit,\u201d Phang told Ms<\/em>.\u00a0(She provides regular updates on the case regularly through her YouTube channel<\/a>.)<\/p>\nMeanwhile, some models have turned to pressure campaigns and media advocacy overseas, where investigations have gained ground.<\/p>\n
Movement Abroad<\/h2>\n
France, arguably the international center of the fashion industry and a hub for model recruitment throughout Europe, has seen the most direct modeling-industry-related investigative movement. Prosecutors reopened inquiries into trafficking and financial wrongdoing tied to Epstein in 2026, drawing forward roughly 10 new alleged victims, in addition to others already known through related investigations into Jean-Luc Brunel and G\u00e9rald Marie, former head of Elite Model Management in Europe.<\/p>\n
In May, France\u2019s highest court also opened a potential civil path for survivors of childhood sexual abuse whose claims might otherwise be barred by statutes of limitations, offering another possible legal avenue for some modeling industry survivors. <\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-ilelael.nitrocdn.com\/iArqSTQyOJCAcmCEoQrhCUIOjYnkEEmQ\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-df849b1\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-1235107575.jpg\")
Carr\u00e9 Otis (left), former model, actor and Model Alliance board member, and model-photographer Lesa Amoore speak at a 2021 press conference in Paris. Otis has filed a new complaint in France alleging rape of a minor and human trafficking by former Elite Model Management executive G\u00e9rald Marie, a move advocates say could open the door for other survivors to seek justice. (Aur\u00e9lia Moussly \/ AFPTV \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\nIn June, former cover model Carr\u00e9 Otis filed a criminal complaint<\/a> against Marie, who she says raped her repeatedly when her agency sent her to France and housed her in his apartment when she was just 17 years old. (Marie denies the allegations.) Otis\u2019 filing opened a pathway other survivors could follow, even though her own criminal claim has exceeded the statute of limitations. To date, approximately 26 alleged victims have come forward in France.<\/p>\nIn Latvia and Lithuania, investigations were launched after the released Epstein files named local modeling agencies and models who were allegedly recruited for exploitation. <\/p>\n
In Britain, former Ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords amid scrutiny of his Epstein ties, and the Metropolitan Police opened a criminal investigation into his alleged misconduct in public office. He was arrested earlier this year, days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was arrested on the same allegation; both were released on bail. <\/p>\n
Norway\u2019s Parliament has announced an external inquiry into its foreign ministry\u2019s Epstein connections, and Irish opposition leaders have pushed for a formal investigation there.<\/p>\n
Survivors are connecting their experiences across borders and pressing for answers as investigations abroad move forward. In the U.S., they continue to ask why accountability has been so difficult to obtain.<\/p>\n
The final installment of the four-part Pipeline to Predators <\/em>series will be available here<\/a> on Friday, Oct. 9.<\/strong><\/p>\nThis article is excerpted from a larger feature in the Fall 2026 issue of Ms<\/em>., hitting newsstands soon. Become a Ms<\/em>. member<\/a> and get print issues delivered right to your mailbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-ilelael.nitrocdn.com\/iArqSTQyOJCAcmCEoQrhCUIOjYnkEEmQ\/assets\/images\/optimized\/rev-df849b1\/msmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cover1_page-0001-1-1-1-762x1024.jpg\")
Fall 2026 cover of Ms<\/em>. magazine. (Photo by Jenny Warburg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Part 3 of The Pipeline to Predators<\/a><\/em>, a four-part Ms<\/em>. investigation into the modeling industry\u2019s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and survivors\u2019 fight for accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\n Sara Ziff, founder of the Model Alliance<\/a>, says the organization has spoken with hundreds of sexual abuse survivors. She\u2019s come to understand that the abuse she and others suffered was part of a larger pattern in the modeling industry. <\/p>\n \u201cThe more you talk to people, the more you connect the dots, and you realize that you were not the only one. That this wasn\u2019t just some freakish thing that happened to you, that you were actually part of a trafficking scheme,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Stacey Williams says that since others have come forward to tell their stories, \u201cThey made me realize that everything was far more orchestrated than I had considered. \u2026 Almost like a setup.\u201d <\/p>\n And Lisa Phillips believes that what happened to her and the other victims, including the models connected to Epstein, was trafficking.<\/p>\n The models interviewed by Ms<\/em>. say they are aware of other former models who were abused by powerful men, but who have not come forward, many of them fearing for their safety or the safety of their families. <\/p>\n \u201cThe No. 1 reason,\u201d Williams explains, \u201cis that they don\u2019t want to bring the backlash, the death threats, the vitriol, the misogyny into the lives [of] their children.\u201d<\/p>\n As more survivors do come forward, they\u2019re gaining strength from one another, revealing previously hidden facts and demanding accountability. <\/p>\n Phillips says she\u2019s optimistic that investigations will happen, highlighting the momentum that\u2019s been building among Epstein survivors since they first gathered on Capitol Hill in September 2025 to demand the release of the Epstein files: \u201cWe created a movement since September. It\u2019s become a powerful movement.\u201d<\/p>\n That movement extends beyond the modeling industry to survivors recruited and abused through other means. Together, they\u2019re pressing for investigation, transparency and accountability from the people and systems that failed them.<\/p>\n In a pivotal moment, many of these survivors met at a rally that same September organized by World Without Exploitation<\/a>, a national, survivor-led coalition working to end human trafficking. They connected and shared their stories, many of them for the first time.<\/p>\n Rachel Foster, cofounder and president of World Without Exploitation, describes the work toward accountability since then as happening 24\/7. In collaboration with a group of Epstein survivors, her organization launched multipronged public education and media campaigns and lobbied legislators across party lines for months. The group sees this work as a moral imperative: As Foster says, \u201cIf we can\u2019t be courageous in this moment, when can we be?\u201d<\/p>\n This sustained organizing and renewed pressure led to Congress passing the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. But advocates say far more remains to be done. They\u2019re looking for greater action from Congress and the states, noting that after the partial and botched release by the DOJ<\/a>\u2014which exposed survivors\u2019 personal information while redacting and protecting the identities of many Epstein associates and alleged abusers\u2014at least 2.5 million documents remain unreleased.<\/p>\n Attorney and independent journalist Katie Phang has brought a groundbreaking lawsuit<\/a> seeking to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), requiring the Justice Department to release all mandated records and provide specific legal justifications for all withheld documents and redactions.\u00a0\u201cI knew that I was waiting for something to happen that was never gonna happen. I was waiting for the right thing to be done by this administration and the DOJ, and I would be an idiot to keep on waiting. And so that\u2019s when we decided to file suit,\u201d Phang told Ms<\/em>.\u00a0(She provides regular updates on the case regularly through her YouTube channel<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Meanwhile, some models have turned to pressure campaigns and media advocacy overseas, where investigations have gained ground.<\/p>\n France, arguably the international center of the fashion industry and a hub for model recruitment throughout Europe, has seen the most direct modeling-industry-related investigative movement. Prosecutors reopened inquiries into trafficking and financial wrongdoing tied to Epstein in 2026, drawing forward roughly 10 new alleged victims, in addition to others already known through related investigations into Jean-Luc Brunel and G\u00e9rald Marie, former head of Elite Model Management in Europe.<\/p>\n In May, France\u2019s highest court also opened a potential civil path for survivors of childhood sexual abuse whose claims might otherwise be barred by statutes of limitations, offering another possible legal avenue for some modeling industry survivors. <\/p>\n In June, former cover model Carr\u00e9 Otis filed a criminal complaint<\/a> against Marie, who she says raped her repeatedly when her agency sent her to France and housed her in his apartment when she was just 17 years old. (Marie denies the allegations.) Otis\u2019 filing opened a pathway other survivors could follow, even though her own criminal claim has exceeded the statute of limitations. To date, approximately 26 alleged victims have come forward in France.<\/p>\n In Latvia and Lithuania, investigations were launched after the released Epstein files named local modeling agencies and models who were allegedly recruited for exploitation. <\/p>\n In Britain, former Ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords amid scrutiny of his Epstein ties, and the Metropolitan Police opened a criminal investigation into his alleged misconduct in public office. He was arrested earlier this year, days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was arrested on the same allegation; both were released on bail. <\/p>\n Norway\u2019s Parliament has announced an external inquiry into its foreign ministry\u2019s Epstein connections, and Irish opposition leaders have pushed for a formal investigation there.<\/p>\n Survivors are connecting their experiences across borders and pressing for answers as investigations abroad move forward. In the U.S., they continue to ask why accountability has been so difficult to obtain.<\/p>\n The final installment of the four-part Pipeline to Predators <\/em>series will be available here<\/a> on Friday, Oct. 9.<\/strong><\/p>\n This article is excerpted from a larger feature in the Fall 2026 issue of Ms<\/em>., hitting newsstands soon. Become a Ms<\/em>. member<\/a> and get print issues delivered right to your mailbox.<\/strong><\/p>\nMovement Abroad<\/h2>\n