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“Real Housewives of New York City” alum Carole Radziwill is speaking out after her name appeared in files related to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
The 62-year-old television personality was once close friends with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime partner and child sex offender.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Radziwill reflected on her years-long relationship with Maxwell, the British socialite who was convicted for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.
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“Imagine you know someone… and it’s like you’re a monster,” Radziwill told reporters in an interview published Thursday.
Carole Radizill reflects on her past relationship with convicted rapist Ghislaine Maxwell/ (Dia Dipasupil/WireImage; Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
“I was friends with him in the early 2000s for, I don’t know, five or six years,” he added.
Radziwill insisted that, at the time, Maxwell did not strike him or others in their group as friends as someone capable of such behavior, and was surprised to learn of his crime.
“The thing about him that made it easy for me to spend any time with him was that he was very intelligent, educated,” said Radziwill. “If you were to list 10 women, and ask, like, to pick a woman to be involved in a global sex trafficking ring, it wouldn’t be her.”
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Radziwill explained the circumstances behind his long friendship with Maxwell. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Maxwell is credited as Radziwill’s author portrait in his 2005 memoir “What Remas: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love.” Radziwill’s name appears in a portion of documents related to Epstein that have been made public in recent months, prompting renewed scrutiny of people connected to Epstein or Maxwell.
The documents include contact lists, emails and public directories, many of which have attracted attention despite no alleged wrongdoing on the part of the individuals named.
The files contain emails between the former reality star and Maxwell, as well as messages the socialite sent to others about her, including Bill Clinton donor and billionaire Ted Waitt and Teresa DiFalco, Radizwill’s sister and memoir editor, who died in 2021.
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While speaking to the NYT, Radziwill explained that she had initially connected with Maxwell since both women moved to New York and international networking circles.
Radziwill clarified that his contact with Epstein was informal and based on that friendship, which he said ended long before Maxwell’s crimes became public.
Radziwill said they often went to parties together in the early 2000s. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
During their friendship, Radziwill said she was working as a journalist and writer following the death of her husband, Anthony Radziwill, in 1999, a cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr. Maxwell, meanwhile, was known to be well-connected and connected to influential people in the media, politics and royalty.
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Radziwill shared that Maxwell once helped introduce former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Winsor after he lost his royal title due to his relationship with Epstein, in a magazine interview.
Radziwill spoke to the former prince for his “Lunch Date” column, a celebrity interview feature he contributed to Glamor magazine in the early 2000s.
During an interview with the NYT, Radziwill said that she and Maxwell went to parties together. In one instance, he recalled attending a cocktail party at Maxwell’s where he remembered seeing Epstein, but said his friend did not mention him.
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“I never knew Jeffrey Epstein,” she said.
He admitted that he was shocked by Maxwell’s crime. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Raziwill said the renewed limelight means he is revisiting a chapter in his life that he said he closed a long time ago.
According to Radziwill, his relationship with Maxwell was social and not personal, and he previously said that he was never secretive and did not witness any of the criminal acts that his former friend would later be convicted of.
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In December 2021, Maxwell was convicted of trafficking a minor for sex and conspiracy to entice and transport children for illegal sexual acts. He was sentenced to 20 years in state prison in June 2022.
Epstein died in prison in August 2019 while facing charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy.
As the Epstein scandal became public years later, Radziwill distanced himself from Maxwell and has spoken of the sad realization that someone he once knew in public was involved in such a crime.
Radziwill said he is trying to move forward after being named in the Epstein files. (Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
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His comments to The New York Times echoed similar statements he made earlier, in which he described his association with Maxwell as an example of how closeness to elite social circles can lead to unexpected connections and, in retrospect, disrupt connections.
The release of documents related to Epstein has caught the attention of a number of prominent public figures, from politicians to celebrities, many of whom have insisted that being named in the files does not imply complicity in wrongdoing. Legal experts similarly cautioned that documents often show loose connections, such as being listed in an address book or mentioned in letters.
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Maxwell is serving 20 years in prison. (Mathieu Polak/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
Still, the renewed attention has forced those named, including Radziwill, to publicly reflect on past relationships that now carry a different weight.
Today, Radziwill told the NYT that he is focused on moving forward, as his name enters the public conversation about one of the most high-profile scandals in recent memory.
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Radizwill explained that he sought solace from the advice of his late mother-in-law Lee Radziwill, who died in 2019.
“He knew that part of being so public and so famous, as he was, that people would hate each other, and you had to be okay with that,” Radziwill said. “And for a very long time, I wasn’t okay with it, but now I’m okay. It’s a really hard place to go, but once you’re there, it’s like a peaceful feeling. You’re going to be misunderstood, and that’s okay.”
