By the time Woody Allen sat down to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, his host was already a convicted sex offender. Epstein had served time for offenses involving an underage girl, but his criminal record had done little to empty his dining room. Prince Andrew was among the guests, and influential people continued to accept his invitations. Allen would later explain that the distinguished company helped put him at ease. He had found a wealthy, well-connected host who treated him generously, and that appeared to be enough.
Allen was hardly a stranger to controversy involving children. His relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, had torn his family apart. His adopted daughter Dylan had accused him of sexually abusing her when she was seven, an allegation he has always denied. The filmmaker continued enjoying professional success despite the scandal, supported by an industry in which his reputation and artistic achievements carried considerable weight.
Epstein offered another circle of influential acquaintances, one in which Allen and Previn could socialize without facing uncomfortable questions about their past.
But the friendship extended far beyond the occasional dinner. Epstein became someone the couple trusted with personal matters, professional requests and private opinions they would never have expressed so freely in public. As accusations against powerful men dominated headlines, the conversations inside this privileged circle took an increasingly ugly turn.
Among those discussed was a fifteen-year-old girl whose involvement with an adult man would eventually lead to a federal prison sentence. What Previn had to say about that child, and whom she chose to say it to, offered a disturbing glimpse into the attitudes shared behind the closed doors of Epstein’s world.
