yahoo news | ‘I tried to expose Epstein 20 years ago, but was silenced’

Vicky Ward, the Vanity Fair journalist who wrote the infamous March 2003 profile “The Talented Mr Epstein,” says she first learned about Jeffrey Epstein in late 2002 when editor Graydon Carter called her about a mysterious financier. During her research Ward uncovered early allegations of sexual abuse, most notably the testimonies of artist Maria Farmer and her teenage sister Annie, who described being hired by Epstein, taken to his New Mexico ranch, and subsequently assaulted by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Ward’s draft included their accounts, but the published article reduced them to a single line about Epstein “loving women – lots of them, mostly young,” after pressure from Epstein and the magazine’s leadership.

As Ward pursued the story, Epstein began contacting her repeatedly, offering high‑profile connections and trying to steer the narrative. His former Bear Sterns boss and other powerful friends praised Epstein, and Ward was invited to an off‑the‑record tea at his Upper East Side home, where she observed unsettling décor and sensed that Epstein treated the investigation as a game. When Farmer visited Ward to share more details, Epstein escalated his intimidation, threatening curses on Ward’s unborn twins, promising to sabotage her husband’s career, and hinting at danger for the Farmer sisters. The stress forced Ward into early labor; her twins were born prematurely, and the Farmer sisters were left exposed and subsequently threatened by Maxwell.

Ward maintains that Vanity Fair removed the Farmer sisters’ testimony after a meeting between Carter and Epstein, effectively silencing a crucial exposé. Carter later claimed the meeting was only about a photograph and that the article’s legal team, not Epstein, cut the allegations. Despite the suppression, Ward has continued to speak out, noting that if the full story had been published in 2003, the cascade of abuse by Epstein and Maxwell might have been prevented. She now reflects that history could have been very different had she been allowed to reveal the truth at the time.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/british-journalist-tried-expose-epstein-141327959.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

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