Ghislaine Maxwell: 5 Things to Know About Jeffrey Epstein’s Ex

Ghislaine Maxwell, the confidante and ex of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 28, 2022.

Maxwell was found guilty by a federal jury in Manhattan on December 29, 2021, on five out of six counts related to her involvement in Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls. Her crimes included conspiring with the disgraced financier to recruit, groom, and abuse underage girls between 1994 and 2004. The judge also imposed a $750,000 fine, the maximum allowed under the law.

The sentencing came over two and a half years after the release of the Netflix docu-series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, which focused on Epstein, who also faced charges of sex trafficking minors. Many of his alleged victims accused Maxwell of being an active participant and accomplice, with at least one claiming she threatened them after they reported the abuse to law enforcement. Maxwell’s lawyer did not respond to HollywoodLife’s request for comment at the time of the 2022 sentencing.

After her notorious lover was found dead in his NYC prison cell in August 2019, the British former socialite disappeared from the public eye until she was finally arrested in Bedford, New Hampshire, in July 2020. During her trial, which began on December 6, 2021, she pleaded not guilty to six federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, three related counts of conspiracy, and enticing a minor to engage in illegal sex acts. She was acquitted of one count: enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.

In 2024, Maxwell appealed her conviction, arguing that she should be set free under the terms of a 2008 deal between Epstein and federal prosecutors in Florida. Under the agreement, prosecutors had agreed not to pursue charges against his alleged co-conspirators. However, her appeal was rejected by a U.S. court.

Here’s what else you need to know about her:

1. A Well-Connected British Former Socialite

Born in France and raised in the U.K., Maxwell is the youngest of nine children. The Oxford-educated socialite has partied with royalty and world leaders, including Prince Andrew, U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as First Lady, Melania Trump.

2. Her Father Died Under Suspicious Circumstances

Maxwell’s dad, Robert Maxwell, once owned the New York Daily News and Britain’s Mirror Group Newspapers. He died in November 1991 after falling off his yacht, Lady Ghislaine, off the Canary Islands. His official cause of death was a heart attack and accidental drowning, although conspiracy theorists believe he either committed suicide or was murdered, according to The Guardian. After his death, Robert was accused of plundering the Mirror Group’s pension funds of around £460 million.

Ghislaine’s media mogul father, Robert Maxwell, who died in suspicious circumstances three decades ago. (Shutterstock)

3. How Maxwell and Epstein First Met

Maxwell reportedly met Epstein after relocating to New York in the 1990s following her father’s death. According to The Guardian, “Her family’s wealth, status and influence considerably depleted, Maxwell found something of a replacement in her relationship with Epstein.”

4. Maxwell Filed a Lawsuit Against Epstein’s Estate

In court documents filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2020, Maxwell claimed that she had “no involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s alleged misconduct.”

The civil lawsuit against the late financier’s estate also sought reimbursement for her legal fees and personal security costs. She claimed that she allegedly “receives regular threats to her life and safety,” which requires her to hire personal security services and “find safe accommodation.”

Ghislaine Maxwell is featured in the Netflix documentary series, ‘Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.’ (REX/Shutterstock)

5. She Was Rarely Seen in Public After Epstein’s Death

In 2019, Maxwell was photographed outside a Los Angeles In-N-Out Burger restaurant shortly after Epstein’s death, with the image published by the New York Post.

She was arrested in July 2020. In April 2021, her attorney released a photo of her with a black eye while awaiting trial in a Brooklyn federal prison. Maxwell told her attorneys that she didn’t know how she acquired the bruise, according to the New York Daily News.