About

Ghislaine Maxwell (pronounced "ghee-LAYN") is a British socialite and known associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The FBI arrested Ghislaine in July 2020. Authorities charged Maxwell of procuring and sexually trafficking underage girls for Epstein. She denies the charges.

History

The daughter of disgraced publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell came to prominence as the romantic partner and later confidant of Jeffrey Epstein. During their time together, employees of Epstein saw her as the "Lady of the House" and his "aggressive assistant."^[1] Vanity Fair^[2] wrote in 2011:

There are many women in his life, mostly young, but there is no one of them to whom he has been able to commit. He describes his most public companion of the last decade, Ghislaine Maxwell, 41, the daughter of the late, disgraced media baron Robert Maxwell, as simply his “best friend.” He says she is not on his payroll, but she seems to organize much of his life--recently she was making telephone inquiries to find a California-based yoga instructor for him.

Arrest

Following Jeffrey Epstein's arrest in 2018, Maxwell went into hiding. According to CNN,^[3] the Manhattan US Attorney's office investigated Maxwell "for facilitating Epstein's recruitment of young girls and women. She has been named in multiple lawsuits by women who said they have been abused by Epstein."

On July 2nd, 2020, authorities apprehended Maxwell in New Hampshire. New York federal prosecutors charged her with "six counts in connection with an ongoing federal investigation into Epstein's accomplices." Prosecutors charged her with "with enticement and conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation and conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and two counts of perjury."

Online Reaction

Maxwell's arrest became the subject over conversation online. That day, Redditor^[4] Snoo-34931 shared the news in the /r/Epstein subreddit, where it received more than 1,600 points (97% upvoted) and 450 comments in less than 24 hours.

On Twitter, people posted variations of the Epstein Didn't Kill Himself meme, joking that they expect Maxwell to die under mysterious circumstances while in prison (examples below).

Others shared images of Maxwell with prominent political figures, such as Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton (shown below, left and right, respectively).

Some also joked about how Maxwell and Epstein's associate attorney Alan Dershowitz might react to the news. Many posted memes implying that Dershowitz may attempt to flee before being questioned about the arrest.

let’s see what alan dershowitz is up to pic.twitter.com/8udkyI21Xy

— kilgore trout, a ramp with no steps (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 2, 2020

Media Coverage

Virtually all media outlets covered her arrested, including CNN,^[3] NBC,^[5] BBC,^[6] NPR,^[7] CBS,^[8] New York Times^[9] and more.

Search Interest

External References