PHOTOSJeffrey Epstein 'Threatened' Photographer With His 'Massive Bodyguard' to Demand He Hand Over All Pictures He Took for 2015 Killed Story
Photographer Christopher Anderson claimed Jeffrey Epstein 'intimidated' him to get his way.
Jan. 7 2026, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Vanity Fair photographer Christopher Anderson revealed shocking details about the drama that endured when he photographed Jeffrey Epstein in 2015.
In a Tuesday, January 6, Instagram post, Anderson revealed he was assigned to take snaps of the financier for a New York Magazine story, insisting that at the time, he knew nothing about him other than that he "had heavy connections to powerful men."
Jeffrey Epstein Was Once Photographed for 2015 Article
Christopher Anderson was hired to photograph Jeffrey Epstein for a 2015 article that was eventually killed.
Epstein "wanted to meet me before the shoot to negotiate buying out the pictures after publication," Anderson noted.
The photographer said when he arrived to Epstein's place, he met a "young woman" he later saw "setting up a massage table in a room just off one of his offices."
"When Epstein arrived, his eyes sized me up like someone always looking for the angles," Anderson recalled. "He quizzed me about my pictures and how the shoot would go and how much I thought my pictures were worth."
When the story was killed, Epstein asked for all of the photos — but when he didn't get his way, he sent his bodyguard to Anderson to 'intimidate' him.
"He said he didn’t want anyone else to have the pictures after the magazine published them, and offered me $20K to own them after publication," the photographer shared, noting he agreed to the money since he had a family and lived "basically month to month."
Anderson said the magazine agreed to the deal as well, and "we made it clear that he wouldn’t see any of the pictures until after publication."
Epstein 'Demanded' the Photographer Hand Over the Images
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Anderson found additional copies of the photos on Tuesday, January 7.
However, everything soon went south, as Epstein "pulled out of the story and started calling me to demand the pictures. I reiterated that the pictures were not his until after publication."
"Then the threats started. He sent his bodyguard/driver, Merwin, a massive guy in a long black overcoat and black, leather gloves, to my studio to intimidate me (it worked). The magazine killed the story, too," he confessed. "So I cashed the check and Merwin came by again to collect the hard drive and make sure I didn’t have any more copies of the photos."
Anderson Found More Copies on a 'Very Old Hard Drive'
Anderson photographed an email in which Epstein was asking Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson to pay back money they borrowed.
"Today, I found the copy on a very old hard drive. There is a portrait of Epstein and pictures of him working in two different offices in the house (yes, that’s a stuffed tiger). I took a picture of his desk and you will see an email printed out that is an exchange between Epstein and the Royal Government office concerning payment from the Duke and Duchess [Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson]," he spilled.
Anderson's pictures included a framed shot of Woody Allen and a printed out email that named Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson.
The images featured a black-and-white close-up shot of Epstein, a picture of him in his office with a stuffed animal tiger on the floor, a snap of framed photographs — one of which included Woody Allen — and the print out of the aforementioned email.
Epstein committed suicide in prison in 2019 awaiting his s-- trafficking trial.
