Les Wexner, the founder of Victoria’s Secret, was visibly taken aback when confronted with allegations about his former associate Jeffrey Epstein. It was claimed that Epstein, in a shocking act, disrobed in front of a model who reacted by throwing a vibrator at him.
The US House Oversight Committee made Wexner’s extensive five-hour testimony public on Thursday, following a session where lawmakers queried him at his Ohio estate the previous day.
Throughout this lengthy testimony, Wexner expressed that he was completely unaware of the alleged incident involving Epstein and the model, stating he had “never heard the story before.”
A staff member questioned Wexner, recounting that “Mr. Epstein apparently allegedly undressed and handed her a vibrator,” and then described the model’s dramatic reaction.
The staffer continued, “Miss Tai threw the vibrator at his head and fled the room,” before inquiring whether Wexner had been informed of this accusation at the time it allegedly occurred.
Wexner’s nonverbal reaction spoke volumes; he was clearly astonished, his mouth agape, momentarily lost for words.
Wexner was also probed on Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
‘Would you consider Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein friends or friendly? Would you classify them in that way in the information that you have,’ a staffer can be heard asking Wexner.
‘I think it’s really two questions,’ Wexner stated.
‘Would I think they were friends? No,’ he noted before adding, ‘Jeffrey Epstein held him out as a friend.’
The billionaire sat for a private deposition with lawmakers and staffers from the House Oversight Committee at his estate in Ohio on Wednesday.
Wexner, 88, categorically denied any knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes in a written statement claiming that he, too, was a victim of the pedophile financier.
‘I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,’ Wexner said.
Wexner is seen shrugging his shoulders when asked about Trump’s relationship with Epstein
American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997
He added that Epstein was ‘diabolical, and a master manipulator.’
‘The other life he led, that we now know was full of unthinkable crimes, he most carefully and fully hid from me,’ Wexner wrote.
‘He knew that I never would have tolerated his horrible behavior. Not any of it. At no time did I ever witness the side of Epstein’s life for which he is now infamous.’
His claims were later trashed by Democratic lawmakers during an intermission during the deposition this afternoon.
Wexner has spent years answering questions over his relationship with Epstein after they went into business together.
In an extraordinary move, Wexner gave Epstein power of attorney in 1991, allowing the financier to make investments and purchase property on his behalf.
He also famously gave Epstein his Manhattan townhouse – then the largest single-family property in the city – for a nominal $1 fee in the 1990s.
Wexner was also a signatory to Epstein’s now-infamous 50th birthday book.
‘Dear Jeffrey – I wanted to get you what you wanted. So here it is,’ reads the page signed by Wexner. An image of a woman’s breasts followed under the letter’s intro. ‘Happy Birthday. Your friend, Leslie,’ Wexner said.
Wexner’s name appears in the Epstein files over 1,000 times, and the two shared a lengthy business relationship.
Epstein first met Wexner through a business associate around 1986.
It was an opportune time for Wexner’s finances. The Ohio business owner had grown a single Limited store in Columbus into a suite of 1980s mall staples: The Limited, Limited Express, Lane Bryant and Victoria’s Secret. Bath & Body Works, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lerner, White Barn Candle Co. and Henri Bendel would follow.
Within a couple years, Wexner had turned over management of his vast fortune to Epstein. He gave Epstein authority over his investments, business deals, properties and he would help develop what would become the vast Wexner estate in then-rural New Albany, documents show.
Epstein had ‘excellent judgment and unusually high standards,’ Wexner told Vanity Fair in a 2003 interview, and he was ‘always a most loyal friend.’
On Wednesday, the billionaire said he didn’t circulate in Epstein’s social circle, but often heard accounts of his encounters with other wealthy people.
Epstein ‘carefully used his acquaintance with important individuals to curate an aura of legitimacy,’ Wexner said.
He said he visited Epstein’s infamous island only once, stopping for a few hours one morning with his wife and young children while they were cruising on their boat.
