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NEED TO KNOW
Naomi Campbell maintained a friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, as the two would speak on the phone and meet in person over the years, according to documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice
Campbell invited Epstein to her birthday parties in St. Tropez, a fashion event in Paris and a fundraiser for children in Moscow while he was under house arrest for soliciting a minor
In January 2016, according to the emails between Epstein and an unnamed person, Campbell unsuccessfully asked to use Epstein's private jet, and a few days later his staff member wrote that she was unable to reach the model or get her to respond to messages
Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice appear to show the progression and possible demise of the unlikely friendship between Jeffrey Epstein and Naomi Campbell during the final two decades of his life.
The convicted pedophile and supermodel spoke on the phone, met in person and even invited one another to parties or dinners they were hosting, according to the documents, which reference communications shared by the two and/or their respective assistants.
Among the events Campbell invited Epstein to were her 2004 birthday party in St. Tropez, a party at the Dolce & Gabbana store in Paris celebrating her 25 years with the brand and a NEON event she co-hosted with Dasha Zhukova, the then-wife of Russian billionaire Roman Abromovich, in Moscow.
The invites to the Paris and Moscow events were both sent in 2010, just a year after Epstein was released from jail after pleading guilty to soliciting a minor.
A member of Campbell's team wrote in an email sharing details of the Dolce party in Paris: "I will be on the door if there are any problems."
As for the event in Moscow, that took place while Epstein was still under house arrest and was for NEON — a charity created to "benefit children's health and education programs throughout Russia," according to the invitation.
Then, in January 2016, according to the emails between Epstein and an unnamed person, Campbell unsuccessfully requested use of Epstein's private jet to travel to Miami, which appears to be the final exchange between the two and ultimately the end of their 15-year friendship which began when they first met in 2001.
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A majority of the Campbell files released by the DOJ are call sheets, schedules and emails.
All three were maintained by Epstein's assistants, which during this time frame included Sarah Kellen and Lesley Groff.
"Please call Naomi Campbell. She is in Spain but she is up," Groff wrote to Epstein on May 29, 2015.
Years earlier, Kellen reached out to Campbell on Sept. 27, 2011 ahead of her boss' trip to Europe: "Hi Naomi. Jeffrey is in Paris and wondering if you are around as well. Hope all is well."
The following March, another email was sent from someone in the Epstein camp whose name has been redacted in the files: "Hi Naomi, Jeffery and I are in Paris with Woody Allen and wondering if you are in town if you'd like to have dinner with us all tomorrow night."
There seems to be a familiarity in the emails Campbell sent to the assistants.
Groff relayed to Epstein the following note allegedly written by Campbell: "Hello Leslie, how are you? I want to see Jeffery. I leave tomorrow at 6 PM. I need to go to Vail n Colorado hurt my any treatment. It's so painful and is it going to Morocco soon as I need to go once more to London exhausted babes XX."
Also in the files are Campbell's similarly chummy emails to Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
The model and British expat were also friends, having been photographed together at a number of fashion events in New York City over the years.
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The final communications between Epstein's assistants and Campbell were sent in January 2016 — and were about Campbell's use of his private jet.
Per emails between Epstein and an unnamed person, on Jan. 21, 2016, Campbell left a message asking Epstein to call her about using his private jet later that month.
The messages do not provide a timeline of events prior to that email or say if Epstein had previously agreed to lend his jet, but either way, he had already flown out of the city by that time.
He allegedly instructed the redacted recipient to inform the model he needed to fly out due to the "weather."
A few days later, the unnamed person emailed Epstein this message: 'Naomi has called back twice now saying she doesn't have any backup plan as she really thought from you. This would work so she has booked the hotel and car and driver..."
The message went on to say: "She's wondering if the plane can't take you to where you are going, then go back and get her to take her to where she needs to be. She's certainly spreading on this and hopes you will call her."
Epstein then had the person instruct his pilot Larry Visoski to find Campbell a charter, but on Jan. 26, when the unnamed person reached out to the model to set up a meeting with Epstein and say that she "hoped everything worked out the other day," she did not hear back.
On Jan. 27, the unnamed person then wrote to Epstein: "FYI, I have called texted and emailed Naomi that you will be in town today and tomorrow, but I have not been able to speak with her and she has not replied to anything."
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It had already been known that Campbell was acquainted with Epstein, but these documents suggest the two were closer than previously thought.
In 2010, it was revealed that Campbell traveled on Epstein's private plane, infamously known as the "Lolita Express," multiple times. That claim was supported by flight manifests at the time and later confirmed by one of Epstein's pilots during a deposition.
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Nine years later, a second batch of unsealed Epstein documents shed more light on Campbell's relationship with Epstein.
Among the new information was that Campbell met Epstein in 2001 in St. Tropez when he attended her birthday party following an invite from the model's then-boyfriend, Flavio Briatore.
Also in attendance at that party with Epstein that night was Maxwell, along with underage victim Virginia Giuffre (neé Roberts), who could be seen in a photograph from the event standing just a few feet in front of Campbell.
Their attendance at the event also lined up with the flight manifests from Epstein's jet for those dates, showing Epstein, Maxwell and Giuffre were all in France at that time.
Giuffre then said one year after the release of the documents in a post on X featuring two photos of herself at the 2001 party.
"You saw me at your parties, you saw me in Epstein's homes, you saw me on the plane, you saw me get my haircut, you saw me on the streets, you watched me be abused. You saw me! #Awareness #Justice #GhislaineMaxwell #JeffreyEpstein #NaomiCampbell #PrinceAndrew," wrote Giuffre.
This latest document release shows that Campbell was even among the individuals placed on Jeffrey's "friend list" while he was serving time in Florida.
Campbell's lawyer, Martin Singer, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
However, Campbell did provide a response following the release of documents in 2019, saying: "What [Epstein] has done is indefensible, and when I heard it sickened me to my stomach just like everybody else. I've had my fair share of sexual predators and thank God I had good people around who protected me from this. I stand with the victims. They are scarred for life."
Campbell also said that prior to that party, she had only seen Epstein in the front row at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
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