Is Your Club in the Epstein Files?
Since Friday’s final document dump by the Justice Department, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s name has once again dominated news feeds, coffee catch-ups and club tables.
Epstein–– a twisted man whom I believe committed suicide ––was a world-class social climber and the trove of emails from scholars, philanthropists, business executives, Hollywood elites and others show a man with a bizarre obsession with proximity to eliteness. His association will cause enormous ripple effects and headaches for many, including a certain New Hampshire congressional candidate.
It should be no surprise to a reader of this publication that Epstein would have found himself (or attempted to find himself) in our midst. Where else would he find educated, curious, traditionally minded people (usually with deeper-than-average pockets) that would be susceptible to his scheme of bringing the best and brightest together for meals in his Fifth Avenue townhouse.
Clubland USA has perused the Epstein files to understand how he moved through private clubs — and how easily some of the doors seemed to open.
Always a Guest, Never a Member
Tracing Epstein’s Steps Across Manhattan Clubland
By: Leonard Robinson
Jeffrey Epstein seems to have been a member of no clubs in Manhattan, but a guest at quite a few.
A perusal of the Justice Department’s Epstein library for club connections show a series of calendar invites for events and the occasional meal at various clubs, but hardly any trace of a monthly bill or newsletter, application responses or the other correspondence found in the clubby inboxes.
Epstein was advising CORE Club on its tax strategy and allegedly told people in-person that he was a SoHo House founder.
Perhaps he received everything by mail, but considering what is in the inbox makes that very unlikely.
Although the Harmonie Club became the center of a defamation lawsuit involving Epstein, it’s safe to say that he was not a member of the club. The lawsuit against the New York Daily News involved a photograph of Jeffrey Lederer being published and captioned as the convicted sex offender.
His most frequent host in the Manhattan club scene was famed entertainment publicist Peggy Siegal, who has come under fire for her connection with Epstein. There’s even a 2010 email where Epstein’s assistant is giving him a list of events occurring for Fashion Week throughout New York to which he replies, “I only wanted what Peggy was hosting.”
Siegal, in an email exchange with Epstein, explained to Epstein what many people in Manhattan club world already know about the ladies-only Colony Club: these ladies might lunch, but they don’t marry down.
After describing her weekend plans, which included visiting Calvin Klein and his “twinkle” boyfriend, she mentions that she knew the husband of the then-president of the Colony Club and was visiting him over a weekend in January 2011.
“He is head of admissions of Maidstone Golf Club and wife is head of Colony Club,” she wrote. “Not Jewish!”
Siegal’s gratitude extended to ensuring that Epstein was invited to the Lotos Club for a celebratory lunch for Quincy Jones in January 2015 along with at least twice at the Metropolitan Club for a 2014 discussion and cocktails with actress and director Angelina Jolie and dinner after a screening of Trust and an event at the French Institute Alliance Francaise.
In November 2015, Epstein was scheduled to attend an after-party hosted by Siegal for the film Horror at The Players, but it remains unclear whether he did or not.
Epstein was invited to lunch at the Century Club Association, but did not respond to the email.
Although Epstein lived nearby The Explorers Club, it seems unlikely that he was a member especially since his emails contain no correspondence directly from the Club itself and he dodged the question when asked over emails.
Epstein did however attend Nathan Wolfe’s book release party held in 2011 and might have hosted filmmaker Woody Allen the following day.
At the invitation of Republican megadonor and talk radio host John Catsimatidis, Epstein was invited to a “friendraiser” for Catsimatidis’ mayoral run in 2013 at both the Union League Club and the New York Yacht Club. It remains uncertain if he attended either.
Union, Princeton, Salmagundi, Downtown Association, the National Arts, Colony, Penn and Harmonie clubs are the only clubs that seem to have been off of Mr. Epstein’s radar.
Mayhem at Vanderbilt Hall. Kiwi Paul Coll was decimated at the hands of squash whiz Mostafa Asal in three games, in what was a stunning defeat—stunning in magnitude—on the glass court at the Tournament of Champions in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall on Thursday. The women’s final featured Olivia Weaver going up against Hania el Hammamy in a five-game tussle, where Weaver’s premature celebration in the fifth game whilst up 9-3 caused her to lose what could have been her first platinum title.
No weekends at the Union. After a scientific study of the Union Clubs, it has come to our attention that not one of them offers weekend service. Alas. What a downfall from the days where men lived there in their bachelor days.