A statement Wednesday from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison did not explicitly mention any connection Karp had with Epstein, whom the firm has said it never represented. But Karp, who will remain at the firm where he has practiced for 40 years and served as chair since 2008, said “recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests” of Paul Weiss.

The Department of Justice last week released the largest batch of documents so far from its Epstein investigative files in compliance with a new law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls, as well as his interactions with rich and powerful people.

Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before a House committee investigating Epstein after Republicans pressed for criminal contempt of Congress charges against them. Bill Clinton, like a number of other high-powered men including President Trump, had a well-documented relationship with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Neither Trump nor Clinton has been credibly accused of wrongdoing in their interactions with the late financier.

The fallout has spread beyond the United States. A top official in Slovakia resigned after photos and emails revealed he had met with Epstein in the years after Epstein was released from jail, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued an apology for appointing an ambassador to Washington who had ties to Epstein.

Among the newly released documents was a July 22, 2015, email in which Karp thanked Epstein for hosting an evening that the lawyer said was “once in a lifetime” and one he would “never forget.” Epstein responded that Karp was “always welcome,” adding, “there are many many nights of unique talents. you will be invited often.”

Later that day, Epstein told Karp he wanted to connect him with Larry Summers, whom he described as “funny and warm.” Summers is a former Treasury secretary and Harvard University president who has been ostracized from a number of organizations after Epstein files made public earlier showed his close relationship with Epstein.

In 2016, Karp was trying to help his son, who was interested in a film career, and reached out to Epstein in hopes of making a connection with Woody Allen. Karp’s son sent several follow-up messages to Epstein, but it was unclear whether they connected further. In 2018, Karp was invited for dinner with Epstein. Karp said he could arrange to have a car outside to take him back to his office for a video call, before rejoining the dinner.

“Im easy,” Epstein said, in suggesting arrangements. “I know you are,” Karp replied.

The messages between the two continued through the years.

In February 2019, Karp emailed Epstein seeking advice on behalf of John Havens, the former Citigroup president who, according to Karp’s message, needed “immediate help” before Haven’s name came out in what turned out to be a Florida massage parlor investigation. Epstein also offered help finding a local lawyer for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in the matter, with Karp suggesting Kraft needed “the best there is.”

Both Kraft and Havens were among 300 men accused of being patrons of massage parlors engaging in prostitution.

A month later, Karp was apparently reviewing a draft court filing in which Epstein’s lawyers argued that his plea deal in a decade-old federal sex abuse investigation in Florida should not be reopened.

“The draft motion is in great shape. It’s overwhelmingly persuasive. Truly,” Karp wrote in a March 3, 2019, email to Epstein, according to documents published online by the Justice Department. “I particularly liked the argument that the ‘victims’ lied in wait and sat on their rights for their strategic advantage, knowing you were in prison, before they came forward.”

Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in that case, spent 13 months in jail, paid settlements to victims and became a registered sex offender.

Paul Weiss was founded in 1875. The storied New York firm has advanced the cause of civil rights, handled the legal affairs of corporate power brokers and grown into a multibillion-dollar global enterprise.

In his return to the White House, Trump has sought to exercise retribution against firms whose lawyers have performed legal work with which he disagrees. Paul Weiss was among the targets. In March 2025, the Republican president issued an executive order threatening the suspension of security clearances for its attorneys as well as the termination of any federal contracts involving the firm.

That order noted that a former Paul Weiss attorney, Mark Pomerantz, had been a central player in an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into Trump’s finances before Trump became president.

Karp was initially prepared to sue over the order, saying his firm “would not be able to survive a protracted dispute with the Administration.” Karp later cut a deal with Trump, saying that he did so to save the firm. The move was ridiculed by lawyers outside Paul Weiss, and more than 140 alums of the firm signed a letter assailing it as well.

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A photograph, part of the trove of files released Friday in the Department of Justice’s investigation into Epstein, shows Ratner sitting on a couch with his arms wrapped around a woman, whose identity is concealed. She is sitting next to Epstein and a second woman, who is also redacted in the photo and is sitting at the far end of the couch next to the disgraced financier. It is unclear where the photo was taken or when.

The filmmaker is among several prominent individuals from the worlds of entertainment, technology, politics and business — including L.A. Olympics boss Casey Wasserman — who have turned up among the millions of files that the Justice Department has released.Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in Manhattan Correctional Center while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Ratner’s name also surfaces in a number of emails contained in the released files in which Epstein discusses his attempts to connect with the director and descriptions in which their social circles overlap.

It is not the first time Ratner turned up in Epstein’s orbit. In December, his photo appeared in an earlier batch of files the department released.

In the undated photograph, Ratner is seen seated, hugging a shirtless Jean-Luc Brunel, a French modeling agent and an Epstein associate.

Brunel died of an apparent suicide in 2022 in a French prison while awaiting trial on charges that he had raped a minor.

Ratner has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

A spokesperson for the director did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During a Monday appearance on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” Ratner said that the recently released photograph was taken about 20 years ago. He said that the woman he is hugging was his then-fiancée, whom he declined to name, and that she had invited him to an event where the picture was taken.

“I’ve never been in contact with Jeffrey Epstein before that photo and never in contact with him after,” he said on the show.

Among the emails in which Ratner is mentioned, in December 2010, Epstein discusses a dinner he is having at “7:30” in which he says that he has invited Ratner but has not yet heard back.

In December 2010, it was widely reported that Epstein hosted a dinner at his Manhattan townhouse just months after he finished serving a prison sentence and house arrest for soliciting a minor for prostitution. The dinner was attended by a number of boldfaced names including Woody Allen and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew.

A year later, Epstein’s assistant appears to email Ratner saying, “Jeffrey would like to speak with you regarding [redacted] could you please give us a call.” It is unclear whether Ratner followed up.

In another heavily redacted email from 2018, Epstein writes to someone saying: “Hi I’m Jeffrey. brett Ratner thought we should meet.” He follows up with a second email asking whether Ratner had spoken to this person yet.

During the Cannes film festival in 2012, celebrity superpublicist and ubiquitous presence on the awards circuit Peggy Siegal emailed Epstein that she was sitting with Ratner about to watch a Roman Polanski documentary, adding that “Brett says ‘hi’ and he loves you!”

In other gossipy emails Siegal sent to Epstein, she cites Ratner in her listing of which power brokers and celebrities are in attendance at various parties and who is staying on whose yacht in St. Barts (Ratner, she wrote, was staying with his business partner, the Australian billionaire James Packer).

Siegal’s relationship with the convicted pedophile came under renewed scrutiny in 2019 after Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges, particularly as she helped facilitate his return to society following his prison sentence.

“Had I known that he had been accused of abusing underage girls, I would not have maintained a friendship with him,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

Siegal could not be immediately reached for comment.

On Nov. 1, 2017 — the day The Times published its investigation in which six women accused Ratner of sexual misconduct — Epstein emailed lawyer Reid Weingarten: “brett ratner now oy.”

Ratner’s career was derailed nine years ago after The Times published detailed allegations against the director made by multiple women who accused him of harassment, groping and forced oral sex. Actor Olivia Munn claimed that Ratner masturbated in front of her when she delivered a meal to his trailer on the set of the 2004 film “After the Sunset.”

At the time, the director’s attorney Martin Singer rejected the women’s claims, saying that his client “vehemently denies the outrageous derogatory allegations that have been reported about him.”

Ratner’s agents at WME dropped him, as did his publicist, and projects were put on hold. Ratner parted ways with Warner Bros.

“I don’t want to have any possible negative impact to the studio until these personal issues are resolved,” he said in a statement.

In 2020, Ratner became embroiled in another Hollywood sex scandal, involving British actor Charlotte Kirk.

In a sworn court declaration, Kirk said she was victimized by then-Warner Bros. Chief Executive Kevin Tsujihara, Ratner, Packer and Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner, stating that the men “coerced me into engaging in ‘commercial sex’ for them and their business associates.”

Singer, who represented the men, “categorically and vehemently” denied any wrongdoing on the part of his clients.

“Melania” is the first film Ratner has directed since he was largely exiled from Hollywood. The documentary has received harsh reviews from critics, who have also questioned the $75 million Amazon paid to distribute and market the movie. However, during its opening weekend, it grossed a better-than-expected $7.1 million at the box office.

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