Les Wexner, the billionaire behind brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie & Fitch, said during a congressional deposition that he is one of many “duped” by Jeffrey Epstein, whom he called a “master manipulator.”
House Oversight Democrats traveled to Ohio for the deposition.
Wexner declared, as per ABC 6, that he has “done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” having cut ties with Epstein decades ago. “To my enormous embarrassment and regret I, like many others, was duped by a world-class con man. I cannot undo that part of my personal history even as I regret ever having met him,” he said.
He said he met Epstein in the 1980s through the former Vice Chairman of Aon Bob Meister. After consulting with other individuals familiar with Epstein, with Epstein himself offering a reference, he became acquainted with the sex offender.
“What is so clear only now is that Epstein lived a double life. He was clever, diabolical, and a master manipulator,” Wexner went on to assert. “He was meticulous in revealing to me only glimpses into the life in which he was a sophisticated financial guru who consulted with heads of state, high-ranking politicians, royalty, university presidents, professors, CEOs, musicians, and other luminaries. He was a member of the Trilateral Commission and was a trustee of Rockefeller University.”
He noted that Epstein “most carefully and fully hid” from him the life “full of unthinkable crimes.” Wexner later reiterated, “Again, the side of Epstein that he chose to reveal to me was far different from the predator he eventually was exposed to be.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) told reporters that he does not believe Wexner’s claims. “There is no single person that was more involved in providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner,” he stated, nothing that he instead believes Wexner is “downplaying” his relationship with Epstein.
