Transcript of How US model agencies helped Epstein access victims

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 15:00 hours GMT on Tuesday, the 10th of November. The BBC uncovers new evidence about how modeling agencies helped sex offender Jeffrey Epstein gain access to young women. The U.S. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, defends his record as he fights efforts to impeach him. And negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. meet for the first time in nine months. Also in this podcast: as Russia's most prominent independent newspaper is forced to shut down, its journalists remain optimistic.

Russia lost hope, but it's not the end. History always goes on a circle. I truly believe that we're going to work again.

And.

It was like watching the movie for the first time again, with some scenes. That's why I find it so mind-blowing that it worked.

Can hypnosis help you forget the end of your favorite film? A BBC investigation has uncovered new evidence about how model agencies, scouts, and powerful fashion figures helped Jeffrey Epstein gain access to young women after his conviction for sex offenses. BBC i examined court records, financial statements, and emails published by the U.S. Justice Department and spoke to more than 100 models. Shadak Heron has this report.

Given the fact that I spent in the orbit around, like, two years, it would be probably 200 times that I was raped.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC for the first time, Simona—not her real name, and voiced by an actor—is breaking years of silence to talk about what it was like working as an assistant for the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A model from Eastern Europe, she came to New York hoping for a career in fashion.

When you land in New York, it's like something in the air, and you feel like, oh my God, the sky is the limit. I was 20 years old, and I really wanted to become a supermodel.

Instead, she says she was drawn into Epstein's world.

I thought he genuinely wanted to help young women.

Simona recounts what's happened on his private island.

We were there for the purpose of serving Epstein. Slaves. Who also have been raped.

Going through the Department of Justice's files, BBC i has pieced together new evidence about Epstein's ties to the modeling world, including the role a modeling agency, MC Squared U.S., played in sponsoring models' visas before they went on to work for Epstein. One of them was Rosa. She says the agency sent her to photo shoots at Epstein's Florida mansion.

Jeffrey Epstein was convicted felon of raping an underage girl, and he was in house arrest.

While raping me.

The job was to protect me, and they failed. In fact, they put me in danger. And for that, they should be held accountable, but they're not.

That's pretty. You've got the lights behind. It's gorgeous.

Lisa Amour, a former model turned photographer, is also an industry campaigner.

Oh, that's beautiful.

She is now investigating Epstein's links to the fashion world.

For Jeffrey Epstein to have such incredible access to models, there had to be other players. Here was Jeff Fuller.

Jeff Fuller was president of MC Squared, Rosa's agency from 2005. His name appears more than 200 times in the DOJ files. He exchanged emails with Jeffrey Epstein, discussing the agency's models with him. Lisa has been going through them.

Let me look through a couple of these. Voilà. Jeff Fuller to Jeffrey Epstein. Had it not been for you, we would have fired her months ago. The telling thing here is, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have kept her. Right?

Here he is in a 2017 interview explaining how his company operated.

Where you have a more boutique atmosphere, a smaller group of models, you know, like you can be more deliberate about what you want your talent to do. I'm involved myself in all aspects of the day-to-day operation.

Rosa found an expense statement showing Fuller booked a flight for her from West Palm Beach, where Epstein lived, around two weeks after she says Epstein sexually abused her for the first time.

Jeff Fuller purchased me a ticket to go from West Palm Beach back to LaGuardia in August. And I'm like, he bought me a ticket? So he knew.

Jeff Fuller has not responded to the BBC's questions. He has previously said he did not know Rosa was going to Epstein's home. In 2019, Jeff Fuller closed MC Squared U.S. He's now running a Miami-based agency.

That is what this law is about.

In 2025, the DOJ said there was nothing further to investigate. Zelna Mairi is a senator for New York State. He's bringing in a new trafficking bill. If approved, it would give the police greater power to investigate Epstein's alleged enablers.

When this bill becomes law, if you are an individual that was leading an agency, you were sending models to Epstein, and you knew what Epstein was doing, or you should have known what he was doing, you will be held accountable.

For Rosa, training and exercise helps her carry on, and she is now a CrossFit champion. She is sharing her story because she wants to be there for others.

There are many, many survivors out there who never speak. So to all my sister survivors is, if you're sitting somewhere and you're listening to this, like, you know me now. You know my name. I say, reach out.

Rosa, ending that report by Shadak Heron. And BBC i, the model trap can be seen on the BBC World Service YouTube channel. He's arguably the most controversial member of Donald Trump's cabinet, not least because of his handling of the war on Iran. But Pete Hegseth still has the support of the president. And the self-styled secretary for war is fighting back after outgoing Republican Congressman Thomas Massie filed an impeachment resolution against him. On Tuesday morning at the Pentagon, he gave his first news conference in half a year, and he was in a combative mood.

Let's be clear about what this resolution actually does. It tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching, that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. It tells them that a single rogue legislator, loaded with personal animus for the president, can attempt to veto national security decisions made by the duly elected commander in chief.

Our chief North America correspondent, Gary O'Donohue, was listening to the speech. He gave his reaction to Regine Vaidyanathan.

I thought his tone was a little bit more measured than it sometimes is. Sometimes he does all this kind of thing, you know, no beards, no dudes in dresses, all that kind of stuff. There was none of that, especially today. There was a kind of robust defense of the lawfulness of what he'd done. He tied himself absolutely tightly to the president. It had him in all the sentences where he was talking about who this was an attack on. It was a sort of a much calmer Hegseth than you often see. But clearly, they know there's a problem. And that's why, you know, we were summoned to the Pentagon at 6:00 a.m.

Just remind us what the process of impeachment actually means.

So impeachment is the way of removing in the Constitution federal officers, including the president, vice president, judges, members of the Cabinet. So if Congress or someone in Congress believes they've either committed treason or bribery or what's called high crimes and misdemeanors, then they can bring an article of impeachment. The House will vote on it. It needs a simple majority to impeach them, which is effectively just formally charging them. And then it then would go to the Senate, which acts as a court, to decide whether or not they're guilty.

And what's your assessment of where this will go for Pete Hegseth?

No one really knows. The numbers are so close. We're dealing with the old Congress, not the one that was elected in the midterms. Don't forget, we're still in the end days of this Congress. Republicans have a majority that you don't need the fingers of one hand to count. A lot of Republicans who lost their seats might not even bother to come back. So the margins are incredibly tight, and no one really knows whether or not these articles will go through, although they do have to be in some way or another voted on in the next day or so.

And he's got the president squarely behind him, at least for now.

Yeah, for now. And it's always for now with the president. Don't forget, his support of people is conditional and transactional. It can evaporate in an instant, and you can become the worst person on the planet overnight. So there's a political calculation here. Do they hang on to him, Hegseth, and try and get through? Because he's going to be investigated, no question, by the next Democratic-controlled Congress, and it'll be harder to get the agenda through in terms of money for the military. Or do they sacrifice him now and hopefully get someone else they can live with nominated?

Gary O'Donohue talking to Regine Vaidyanathan. The eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has endured decades of brutal conflict, and fighting continues between government forces and various rebel groups. Now, at least 66 Congolese soldiers have been sentenced to death for cowardice, mutiny, and refusing to obey orders. I heard more from our Global Affairs reporter, Richard Kugoy.

There has been an increasing tendency by some of the soldiers to abandon their positions. The military courts say that they were accused of refusing even actually to take orders and causing even a revolt. So generally, you look at an attempt by the army to perhaps convince and also threaten the soldiers to make sure that they put up a fight against rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

And what is life like for the soldiers in the army as they try to battle these rebels and seemingly are unable to defeat them?

Well, it's quite a huge challenge for the soldiers there. But there have been issues, you know, systemic. Part of it has been complaints from the soldiers that their salaries are low, there are delays even in payment of their salaries. They complain of lack of equipment to deal with some of these rebel groups who seem to be even better equipped compared to the Congolese forces. There have been complaints, especially in terms of organization within the ranks of the Congolese army. And I guess maybe perhaps that's really what's causing the disquiet amongst its troops.

And of course, while the fighting goes on, the suffering continues for the local population.

Yes, the local population who have been caught up in these conflicts that have been running for decades are bearing the brunt. And not only just that, there's also the Ebola outbreak that has been concentrated in parts of the eastern DRC. So the local population continue to suffer. They have been displaced by the health crisis. They have been displaced now by this conflict.

Richard Kugoy in Nairobi. Now, you may have heard about a novel idea to allow film fans to watch their favorite movie as if for the first time by hypnotizing them so they forget the plot. Well, on Monday, a cinema in the Netherlands tried it out with the Christopher Nolan blockbuster Interstellar. So how did it go? Vanessa Heaney has been investigating.

You might have to decide between seeing your children again.

And the future of the human race.

We'll find a way, we always have.

Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic Interstellar has a huge following. The 30 fans who signed up to the experiment called Rewind by the film production company Pathé were all hoping to see it again as though for the first time. Last week, the Chilean hypnotist Victor Cramer did one-to-one hypnosis sessions with them from the comfort of their own homes. On Monday, they went to the screening in The Hague. Before the film started, the Russian hypnotist known as Alex the Great worked on putting the audience into a trance.

I gave them a little magical, sensational experience of illusion, how hypnosis works, something light and visual. And then we started inducing hypnosis. It's changing frequency and brain waves like sleeping condition. I regressed them to the point where they never saw the movie.

Pathé Rewind says the reactions were mixed. Milo Mallesen had never been hypnotized prior to taking part. He said it wasn't easy going into the trance as there were so many cameras in the cinema snapping photos. But he thinks he forgot about 70% of the film.

There were some scenes that I could still remember, but most of the scenes I did forget. And it was like watching the movie for the first time again with some scenes. That's why I find it so mind-blowing that it worked. I've watched the movie four or five times before, so every emotion, every shock, it was in my memory still. But yesterday, when I sat at the theater, I experienced the shock and the emotions again like it was my first time watching it. There were some scenes like the end of the movie that I could still remember, but most of the feelings, most of the emotions, they were brand new.

Boyd Aldwick was also in the audience.

It's really my number one favorite movie, so I really went there hoping I would forgot the whole movie plot and just sit there and be amazed by it, because it's a really beautiful film.

He last saw Interstellar six months ago, and this was his sixth time. But unfortunately, it didn't work.

The experience was quite something different than I ever did. I wouldn't say I completely forgot the whole movie, but I really enjoyed it seeing it again, maybe right in a more calmer state or something. But I didn't forget the whole movie plot or anything when we got hypnotized.

Pathé Rewind say the aim was not to cause memory loss or permanently erase memories, but to explore whether hypnosis could help moviegoers experience the film with a fresh perspective. Our report by Vanessa Heaney. And still to come on this podcast.

We're talking about five hugely incredible sportswomen, and their consistency is really what shone out, I think, first to nominate them for this award.

We reveal the nominees for the 2026 BBC World Service Women's Footballer of the Year. You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to end the war in Ukraine, even if it means handing over Ukrainian territory to Russia. So there can have been little surprise in Kyiv when the US president said that Ukraine would end up in a little bit of a different shape after the conflict.

Our delegation is committed to fruitful and productive negotiations. We're committed. Our people are waiting to end this war and would like to once again thank everybody for their support.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would not agree to European demands for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. So what can this meeting in Abu Dhabi achieve? Our correspondent, Abduljalil Abdirassoulov, is in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

So far, we haven't seen any signs that the positions of Kyiv and Moscow on the issue of territory have changed. Moscow wants the entire region of Donbas in the east to be given to Russia and recognized as Russian, and Kyiv is categorically against that. They say that they want to have an unconditional ceasefire in place and also the security guarantees before they can sit down and discuss the issue of territory. However, the American officials say both sides have shown a bit of flexibility on this matter. We still don't know what that means.

Does President Trump's setback in the recent midterm elections change the calculation at all? Because until now, he has seemed somewhat reluctant to put pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Well, the Ukrainian foreign minister has said that for Ukraine, nothing has changed because they still need to work with Washington, D.C. It doesn't matter who controls the American Congress, whether it will be Republicans or Democrats. They still need American support to continue defending their land. And therefore, it is important for them to continue their bilateral relations and continue getting American support. Of course, now when President Trump has about two years before the end of his term, there is a fear in Ukraine that he may rush and reach a deal with the Russian side that will happen at the expense of Ukraine.

Abduljalil Abdirassoulov in Kyiv. Meanwhile, one of the few independent news outlets left in Russia, Novaya Gazeta, has shut down. It's the latest victim of a crackdown on any voices trying to hold the authorities to account. Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, was there to witness the death of one of the country's most famous newspapers.

I'm standing outside an office block in Moscow, which for the last 30 years has been the home of Russia's leading independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, a paper which gained a reputation for fearless reporting about corruption, about human rights abuses, about abuse of power in Russia. But this is the newspaper's final day. It's closing down. Novaya Gazeta has had its funding blocked, and it's being evicted from the building. It accuses the authorities of killing it off.

When I hear people say repressions in Russia are limited, first of all, it isn't true. And second, repression is not knowing if there'll be a knock at your door at 6:00 in the morning. We now live expecting that knock at the door. Some of the journalists have found a guitar and are keeping their spirits up with a song. Others sit in empty offices in quiet contemplation. I get chatting to Anastasia, a photographer.

I grew up with these people. They taught me everything I know about journalism, everything I know about being human.

With the closure of your newspaper, what has Russia lost?

I would say Russia lost hope for a few years, maybe. But it's not the end. History always goes on a circle. I truly believe that we're going to work again. Maybe it's not going to be the same newspaper. It will be a beautiful young newspaper. And I believe that it will be a different country and a different newspaper, but still with high standards of journalism.

As for the Kremlin, it thinks this is all a fuss about nothing. President Putin's spokesman Dmitri Peskov denied that the age of independent Russian media was over. Some media get replaced by other media, he claimed. It's just normal rotation. But as the staff of Novaya Gazeta leave the building, evicted from their office, and pose for one final photograph, this feels like anything but a normal rotation.

Our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg. When passengers on board the Odyssey cruise ship set off from Northern Ireland in October 2024, they were expecting to visit around 150 countries over the course of at least three and a half years. But two years on, they've been left stranded in Cambodia, and the vessel has now been seized in Singapore after its owners ran out of money. Richard Hamilton told us more about the ship.

It can take up to 600 passengers. It's thought there were about 200 on board. The website says there's several bars and restaurants, a pool deck, and a pickleball court. It was advertised as a trip of a lifetime. And passengers had the option of paying, actually buying a cabin outright for between 100,000 to 400,000 dollars or renting a cabin for around $3,000 a month. But the big problem was that the Iran war caused, as we know, fuel prices around the world to rocket.

And what has happened to the passengers?

Well, last month, they were just given seven hours to disembark. There was an abrupt message from the company saying it could no longer carry on operations. And 200 all the passengers on board got off at the port of Sihanoukville in Cambodia. They've been offered some temporary accommodation. Many of them will be flying off to different parts of the world or making their way home slowly. And the port authority said the crew are reported to be well. There's some 50 crew members still on the boat, and their welfare is being managed by the vessel's creditors.

And things went wrong right from the start.

Exactly. There have been so many problems, like a catalog of errors, really. The departure was delayed by four months at the beginning from Belfast because of repairs needed to the vessel and paperwork as well. And then in Vietnam, bizarrely, crew members were seen hopping off the boat and buying food from local grocery stores after a supplier refused to deliver any more food, saying they'd not been paid. Just as in the original Odyssey, Odysseus had to face monsters like the Cyclops and witches and whirlpools, it seems that the passengers on board the Odyssey have had to deal with their own extraordinary obstacles and setbacks.

Richard Hamilton. For the past 12 years, the BBC World Service has been celebrating the best of women's football with an annual award for the best player. Well, a panel of coaches, journalists, and former professionals has now come up with the shortlist for the 2026 BBC World Service Women's Footballer of the Year. The five nominees will now be put to a public vote.

Who is your choice for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2026?

It's so amazing because it's our first time we go to the World Cup. Not only for me and my sister, but for the whole country, Malawi.

Oh, what a brilliant finish. Temwa, your winger, cannot stop scoring at the moment.

Malawi's remarkable fairytale run at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations continues after the tournament debutants reached their first-ever final.

So it's just like a dream come true. Because when I was young, I never thought I'd be in this level, like people to know me like that. Sometimes I just think, like, if I can listen to my mom like now, I cannot be here because I'm just being Malawi, doing maybe nothing.

Driven shot by or Barcelona. Have the equalizer.

It's a special year for me, for the team, because we did something big. We won four titles.

Here! Barcelona have the breakthrough. And of course, it had to be Ava Payot.

When I was a small girl, I didn't know that I could play football professionally because it was not like this. This dream growing up with me, this kind of moment, they are very special for me.

And it's Alexia Toutsoyas.

Every moment was so emotional. To be able to achieve 500 games in a Champions League game, in Spotify Camp Nou, winning four trophies was something special.

Fantastic finish from Toutsoyas. You wouldn't expect anything less.

I am who I am because of Barça. I started playing there being a kid, and I left being a woman.

Rousseau! There it is.

Playing at the Emirates and winning a trophy there feels really nice, and I hope it's something that we can continue to do.

Arsenal needed a moment. They needed a leader. And Alessio Rousseau steps up to the plate.

I'm always so self-critical of myself and want to find the extra 1%. And I think that the staff as well pushed me to find those extra 1%.

And when Manchester City score, inevitably, it's Bonnie Shaw who scores. <spk:31> Winning the league, the FA Cup, fastest hat-trick, 100 goals, the last 12 months from my career have been the best. There is the hat-trick. Is there a better goal scorer anywhere than Bonnie Shaw? <spk:31> I'm not just doing it for me. I'm doing it for my country and the little girls who would like to be a Bonnie one day.

To vote, go to bbc.com/womensfootball, where you'll also find the terms and privacy notice. It's your choice. It's your champion.

And voting closes on Wednesday, the 18th of November at 9:00 hours GMT. And that is all from us for now. You can email us at globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk and watch our episodes in full on YouTube. This edition was mixed by Louis Griffin and produced by Nikki Verrico. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.