'Melania' director Brett Ratner pictured cuddling woman in Epstein files
The files were made public on the same day as the release of 'Melania: 20 Days to History', a behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the first lady’s life in the days leading up to her husband’s January 2025 inauguration.
The director of a new documentary on US First Lady Melania Trump has appeared in images released by the US Department of Justice, showing him in the company of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Brett Ratner, best known for directing the Rush Hour films and X-Men: The Last Stand, is seen sitting on a sofa beside Epstein and two women whose identities have been obscured in the photographs released on Friday, reports BBC.
It remains unclear when the images were taken, although they appear to have been shot at the same location as photographs of Ratner and Epstein with the late French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel that were released in December.
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The files do not indicate any wrongdoing. The BBC has contacted Ratner's representative for comment.
The images were part of a tranche of millions of documents related to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Thumbnail images from the collection show Ratner, Epstein and Brunel smiling and relaxing with several women, all of whom have been anonymised. Under the law governing the release, material must be redacted to protect victims and ongoing investigations, although a lawyer representing many survivors has said the identities of numerous victims were disclosed in the release.
The files were made public on the same day as the release of Melania: 20 Days to History, a behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the first lady's life in the days leading up to her husband's January 2025 inauguration.
The film has drawn a largely negative response from critics and political commentators, with scrutiny over its ties to the Trump administration and its funding, which began before it reached cinemas.
The documentary marks Ratner's first project since multiple allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him during the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017, which he has denied.
The newly released files have also shed further light on Epstein's connections with several high-profile figures, including Elon Musk, Lord Peter Mandelson, Bill Gates and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
