Jeffrey Epstein Was Eager to Befriend Woody Allen at A-List Party, Top Publicist Reveals

Prominent Hollywood publicist Peggy Siegal revealed that dead financier Jeffrey Epstein was intensely eager to befriend director Woody Allen following his 2009 release from jail.

Nearly 5,000 emails between Siegal and Epstein sent between 2009 and 2019 were released by the Department of Justice earlier this year.

Siegal, who Hollywood has since shunned following the release of those explosive emails, said Epstein specifically asked her to invite Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, to an A-list dinner party at his Upper East Side mansion in December 2010.

"Woody is a great idea. Do you know Woody? I do," she wrote Epstein, adding, "Could there be any resistance because he had a public issue with Soon-Yi? ... just thinking ahead."

The former publicist to Hollywood royalty, including Steven Spielberg and disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein, suggested inviting Allen's close friend, art dealer Lorinda Ash, to make him feel more comfortable.

Allen eventually attended the event honoring former Prince Andrew. Other high-profile guests in attendance included journalists Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Rose.

Allen has stated he was unaware of Epstein's history at the time, noting he only agreed to attend because he was told he could wear his "chinos and his bucket cap." He later described Epstein as "charming and personable" and said he "couldn't have been nicer" during their subsequent social interactions.

Siegal claimed her involvement in the party was a "total exception" intended to help Weinstein get a quote from the Queen for his 2010 film The King’s Speech via Prince Andrew.

The publicist told New York Magazine that no one knew of Epstein’s crimes, but she was the conduit between him and Hollywood A-listers.

"All of Jeffrey's illegal, immoral behavior was in Palm Beach, and he went to jail in Palm Beach, and the New York Times never wrote about him," Siegal said. "World-famous newscasters didn't know who Jeffrey Epstein was. And they counted on my relationship with them to invite them to an interesting evening, which I had many, many times before. They came on my say-so."

The publicist, however, wasn’t as oblivious.

"I was in denial, but if I tell you that he told me he changed his ways, then that's telling you I knew that he was a pervert," she told New York Magazine.

"I mean, obviously I had a sense that he had done something wrong if he had gone to jail," Siegal added. "I wasn't oblivious that he was morally compromised and a con man. But I don't know how to say this to you: The idea of child p----graphy is so heinous that you can't even think about it. You can't even discuss it. I know it sounds crazy, but it's nothing I wanted to deal with."

Epstein and Allen remained in contact for years afterward, with Epstein reportedly visiting Allen's editing room and even helping arrange a White House visit for the director in December, 2015, when then-President Barack Obama was in Hawaii.