Elizabeth Stein, a former employee of Leslie Wexner's, sues Jeffrey Epstein's estate and Ghislaine Maxwell
Stein worked at Wexner-owned Henri Bendel when preyed upon by Epstein and Maxwell.
Elizabeth Stein, former employee of Henri Bendel, then owned by Leslie Wexner filed a lawsuit on November 22, 2023 against Darren Indyke, Richard Kahn—the executors of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate and Ghislaine Maxwell for multiple instances of rape. Stein alleges the abuse began during her employment at the ultra luxurious store after Ghislaine Maxwell came in as a customer and asked her for assistance. Ghislaine told 21-year-old Stein that her colleague was “in very close relations” with her boss Leslie Wexner.
Wexner (photographed above with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) in 1991 at a benefit held at Bendel’s flagship store in New York. In the fall of 1985 Wexner purchased the prestigious department store for just below $10 million. Andy Warhol, who later founded the New York Academy of Art (NYAA) where Epstein was a board member from 1987 to 1994, was the store’s in-house illustrator. Wexner shuttered the 123-year-old institution in January 2019—months before Epstein’s arrest on July 6, 2019.
In early 2000, Wexner showcased Monica Lewinsky’s handbags at Bendel’s. Lewinsky was fresh from the sex scandal with President Bill Clinton while she was an intern between 1995 and 1997.
The lease on the Fifth Avenue Bendel store didn’t expire until February 21, 2021—meaning Wexner was still on the hook to Paramount Group (a real estate investment trust aka as a REIT) for remainder of the rent which amounted to $6.5 million. Paramount also rents space to the Clinton Foundation. And, not surprisingly (as this is a group that plays together) JPMorgan Chase also rents via Paramount—owning the most shares of the publicly traded firm.
The lawsuit initiated by Stein details that in 1992, when she was a teenager attending the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), she began working at Henri Bendel. Many other FIT students were also hired at the store as interns. If you have been following the Epstein case, you may be familiar with other women who were recruited and offered an education at FIT (Sarah Ransome among these). About two years into the job, when she was 21, Maxwell allegedly approached her for assistance.
As Stein helped Maxwell and after she was told that [Maxwell’s] “colleague was in very close relations” with Wexner, she was asked her to deliver her purchases to the St. Regis on Fifth Avenue—where the concierge directed her to the bar. There, the complaint alleges, sat Maxwell and Epstein having drinks.
The St. Regis is where I was often tucked away during the time I spent as Ira Riklis’ sex slave. Earlier in 1985 Wexner purchased shy of 800 Lerner shops from Ira’s father, Meshulam Riklis. Below is a photo of myself and two of my friends at one of the suites at the St. Regis.
Stein ended up joining Maxwell and Epstein in a hotel room to deliver the packages. The complaint states at one point, Maxwell and Epstein changed into monogrammed bathrobes and pivoted the conversation to Stein’s “personal and sex life.” As they continued to discuss Stein’s then-boyfriend and drink, the complaint states, Maxwell and Epstein began kissing—and touching each other.
“Epstein and Maxwell asked [Stein] if she had ever participated in a ‘threesome,’ and she told them she had not,” the complaint states. “Maxwell then encouraged [Stein] to join them and assured her ‘it would be fun.’”
The complaint states that Stein was “hesitant and afraid of Epstein or Maxwell hurting her physically and professionally,” so she complied with their request. At one point, Stein allegedly asked to stop and was initially ignored before she said she needed to leave because her then-boyfriend was on his way to her house.
As she was leaving, Epstein “handed her cash and stated it was a ‘tip,’” the complaint states, a gesture that made Stein feel “confused, betrayed, humiliated, and completely violated.”
The incident began what is described as “a three-year nightmare” for Stein, where Maxwell and Epstein allegedly stalked her, sexually abused her, and trafficked her to their “friends.”
The complaint states that in 1994, Stein was offered to be Henri Bendel’s assistant manager of several departments, which she turned down to focus on her studies. Months later, Maxwell allegedly called Stein enraged because she turned down the job offer that “Maxwell and Epstein were involved in securing.” If you have been reading my articles on Wexner, you’ll note he was much more involved in the Epstein “saga” that what mainstream media has written. In this instance, Wexner was included in the victim’s lawsuit against Epstein.
After Stein graduated from FIT, she took a job at Bloomingdale’s in an attempt to evade Maxwell and Epstein’s crosshairs. But the complaint states that Maxwell came in just a few months later, and started “befriending” Stein again, including taking her out for lunch and shopping.
In the fall of 1995, Maxwell invited Stein over to Epstein’s home for a dinner party, where Stein allegedly found herself in a room with a massage table. The complaint states that Maxwell and Epstein forced her to “engage in sexual acts with others in the room.” Months later, Maxwell allegedly invited Stein to a New Year’s Eve party at the Waldorf Astoria and bought her a dress to wear.
Stein later learned that her “date” was Maxwell and Epstein, who at one point allegedly instructed her to have sex with them. The complaint states that when she resisted, the pair “became physically aggressive” with her, made fun of her for taking the subway to the party, and said they were “going to show her what a train is tonight.”
“Epstein then proceeded to vaginally, anally, and orally rape [Stein] while Maxwell restrainted [sic] her,” the complaint states.
Afterward, Stein was allegedly raped by another unknown man as she was held down by Maxwell and Epstein before they all went downstairs to the party. The complaint states that Stein eventually started vomiting at the party and left.
“To make up for the New Year’s sexual assault,” the complaint states, Maxwell gave Stein a Florida vacation. In Florida, Stein was taken to Epstein’s Palm Beach home, where she was sexually assaulted by the pool while other guests watched,” the complaint states.
The complaint states that at one point in Florida, Stein began to fight back and resist the abuse. That allegedly resulted in her being violently punished and sexually abused. Stein also was allegedly barred from leaving Florida for days, which ultimately led to her being fired from her job.
Soon after she returned home, she learned she had gotten pregnant by one of her abusers, the complaint states. Maxwell made her get an abortion, spiraling Stein into a “deep depression” that at one point caused “herself to crash her car.”
“Maxwell and Epstein did not let go of [Stein], however, and continued stalking her with repeated phone calls and cabled messages to her,” the complaint states. Stein was hospitalized several times even after the abuse ended in 1997.
Stein first spoke out about Epstein and Maxwell while attending her sex-trafficking trial in winter of 2021, watching the proceedings as a member of the public.
Thank you, Kirby, for this bonus installment. Elizabeth Stein plot twist underscores the systemic nature of the Wexner/Epstein/Maxwell milieu. Monica Lewinsky years ago was thought to have served as a "honey trap": "Netanyahu said to have offered Lewinsky tapes for Pollard." https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-to-have-offered-lewinsky-tapes-for-pollard/.
Ironic (or coincidental?) that the incriminating blue dress held by Lewinsky was produced by The Gap of the San Francisco Fisher family, also major players in the rag trade.
I may be able to help you in your efforts, but not the way you'd think. Let's say you're 100% successful in every facet of all cases related to Epstein. Then what? Does the overall structure of child racketeering cease to exist? Does the majority of the populace KEEP their attention on stopping it since their authorities won't?
There's the psychological key. Have you heard of Maddie de Garay?
She's one of many injured directly by the untested jabs that were mandated. 1) Remind me again when mere politicians changed the constitution & it became LEGAL for them to simply mandate whatever, whenever? 2) Notice how No One Else will phrase the problem this way? 3) If We The People refuse to hold authority figures accountable to the law, what are WE doing except setting this all up to happen again.
So, since ONLY mass public support CAN change such things, how do we earn mass public support FOR such changes? Not ones we beg politicians to do like they're the only ones capable of making changes: ones where we demand them & hold them accountable for if they don't deliver while also holding them accountable for their crimes?
Politicians also illegally passed "measures" protecting pharmaceutical companies from all lawsuits brought due to harms their products cause. The Only Purpose Of 'Government' is to protect US from that.
If we do not hold the politicians who RUN 'Government' accountable how can we enact more permanent changes? Wait harder for them to change themselves?
How long are you prepared to wait? What I'm offering is some ideas on what tactics can lead to more "permanent" (nothing in life is permanent, that shouldn't stop us from trying) changes to society that allow us to better protect children & other victims. Care to chat?