Epstein Looked to Buy a House in Newport, Had Ties to RI Movie Making, and Much More
GoLocalProv News Team
Epstein Looked to Buy a House in Newport, Had Ties to RI Movie Making, and Much More
GoLocal has reviewed more than 33,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein files that are directly related to Rhode Island and, more specifically, Newport.
The documents unveil that after his conviction as a child molester in 2008, Epstein enjoyed his best life, including in Newport, with a wide number of prominent people in business and entertainment.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEpstein moved freely and was embraced by the most influential. GoLocal has previously reported on other Rhode Island connections, but this report unveils new details and new relationships.
The notables included Woody Allen and his wife Soon Yi Previn, attorney Alan Dershowitz, founder of TED Talks Richard Saul Wurman, and many others.
GoLocal looks at the deals, the dinners, and the real estate Epstein was involved in, tied to Newport.
In 2019, GoLocal unveiled that top Clinton advisor Ira Magaziner repeatedly flew with Epstein. He is the father of U.S. Congressman Seth Magaziner (D-2).
In the summer of 2014, Woody Allen was filming the movie Irrational Man starring notable Hollywood actors Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix. The movie was underwritten by millions of dollars in Rhode Island tax credits.
The movie was filmed in Newport and Providence, and during the production, Allen was living at 75 Gray Craig in Middletown — the mansion once owned by another Hollywood star, Nic Cage.
Let’s start with Epstein’s trip to visit Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn. It took place on July 30, 2014.
The two had both lived for a time — a short time — as pariahs. Previn was the adopted daughter of Allen's ex-partner Mia Farrow, who accused Allen of molesting their daughter, Dylan. He was investigated but never charged.
Epstein was a convicted child molester. As part of a plea deal, in 2008, he served roughly 13 months in jail, although he was allowed work release.
It took months to coordinate the visit between Epstein’s long-time assistant, Lesley Groff, and Allen and Soon Yi. The visit was sparked, in part, by Wurman — who lived in Newport in a mansion off of Cliff Walk and was a longstanding friend of Epstein.
Once the Date Was Scheduled — Epstein's Busy Itinerary Was Obstacle
According to emails and limo schedules, Epstein brought his girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak. A New York Times story published on Tuesday reported that Epstein, in his will, directed a significant amount of his estimated fortune to her.
“The document called for Ms. Shuliak, 36, to get a total of $100 million, which included a $50 million annuity to be set up for her benefit. It also provided for her to get much of his property, though the estate has sold most of his residences,” reported the Times.
Newport — Ruggles Avenue Mansion
According to Epstein’s schedule, when he returned to New York after visiting with Allen and Soon Yi, he was scheduled to meet with interior designer Amy Cassell.
According to emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Cassell and Epstein had a relationship related to her design work that lasted for months.
GoLocal reached Cassell on Tuesday to ask her about her relationship with Epstein and the Newport mansion in an email between the two.
The mansion at 237 Ruggles Avenue, known as Fairholme, was purchased for $16 million in 2016.
“I don't know anything about it,” said Cassell. “I don’t know the place at all.”
She said she never had dinner with Epstein "or anything like that...I am going to hang up now.”
But a series of emails shows that the two did business together.
Just two weeks before, Cassell, according to records, emailed Epstein an invoice for $30,000 for “Design Services.”
A series of designs by Cassell included the following option, complete with a massage table. Over the months in 2014, there were dozens of communications between Cassell, Epstein, and his team.
In an email in 2016 to a third party. Epstein cites his effort to buy the Newport mansion.
Wurman to Woody, Pick-up Dershowitz, Bailey’s Beach Club
The Epstein conviction of molesting young girls seemed to have little impact on his friends, colleagues, and lawyer.
Dershowitz was part of the legal team that negotiated Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement in Florida and represented him as allegations mounted in civil suits. And, Dershowitz is no stranger to Newport.
Socialite Claus von Bülow was charged with the attempted murder of his wife, Sunny von Bülow, in 1979 at her Newport mansion, which left her in a coma. Dershowitz represented Claus.
Fast forward to 2014, a series of emails between Epstein and his assistant, Groff, were reminders to pick up Dershowitz on the way to visit Allen in Newport
After that series of emails and Google calendar entries, it is unclear if the three — Epstein, Allen, and Dershowitz — met up in Newport in a separate trip.
Dershowitz did not respond to a request for comment.
Wurman Wants to Sell Woody His House
In a 2015 email from Wurman to Epstein, he asks if Allen would want to buy his Newport home citing a New York Post article.
Siegal at Bailey’s Beach Club “Jew on the Terrace”
Peggy Siegal, the noted Hollywood publicist, talked about Newport in an email to Epstein in 2009, right as he was released from jail.
She, as Town and Country reported, was instrumental in Epstein's rehabilitation of his reputation. In 2011 Siegal organized an event at Epstein's mansion whose guests included notable people such as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, George Stephanopoulos, Katie Couric, and Chelsea Handler.
In this email, Siegal writes that she went to Bailey’s Beach Club and quipped that she screamed “Jew on the Terrace.” Epstein, in the exchange, asks Siegal to help find a job for a young woman in Moscow, but “leave my name out of it.”
Siegal also writes, "So excited about your FREEDOM."
In the thousands of emails, there are other Newport details about boat buying, the Clarke Cooke House as the place to eat, and more.
The examination unveiled that despite the conviction as a child molester, little inhibited Epstein from living life as a powerful influencer. Epstein was indicted again by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2019. He died in jail.
Editor's Note: An earlier version stated that Woody Allen and Mia Farrow had been married. That was an error. They were partners for 12 years. And an email from Wurman to Epstein was mislabeled - the date was 2015.