Carole Radziwill addresses years-long Ghislaine Maxwell friendship after name appears in Epstein files
"The Real Housewives of New York City" alum Carole Radziwill is speaking out after her name resurfaced in files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
The 62-year-old television personality was once close friends with Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein and a convicted child sex offender.
During a recent interview with The New York Times, Radziwill reflected on her years-long relationship with Maxwell, the British socialite who was later convicted for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
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"Imagine knowing someone… and then they turn out to be, like, a monster," Radziwill told the outlet in an interview published on Thursday.
"I was friends with her in the early 2000s, I don’t know, like, for five or six years," she added.
Radziwill emphasized that, at the time, Maxwell did not strike her or others in their group of friends as someone capable of such behavior, and she was stunned to learn of her crimes.
"The thing about her that made it easy for me to spend any time with her at all was that she was very intelligent, she was educated," Radziwill said. "If you lined up 10 women, and you asked, like, pick the woman who would be involved in an international sex trafficking ring, it would not be her."
Maxwell is credited as the photographer of Radziwill’s author photo in her 2005 memoir "What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love." Radziwill’s name appears in a tranche of Epstein-related documents made public in recent months, which prompted renewed scrutiny of individuals who had any connection to Epstein or Maxwell.
The documents include contact lists, emails and social references, many of which have drawn attention despite no alleged wrongdoing on the part of the individuals mentioned.
The files contain emails between the former reality star and Maxwell, along with messages the socialite sent to others about her, including Bill Clinton donor and billionaire Ted Waitt and Teresa DiFalco, Radizwill's sister-in-law and memoir editor, who died in 2021.
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While speaking with the NYT, Radziwill explained that she originally connected with Maxwell since both women moved in overlapping New York and international social circles.
Radziwill clarified that her connection to Epstein was indirect and rooted in that friendship, which she said ended long before Maxwell’s crimes became public.
At the time of their friendship, Radziwill said she was working as a journalist and author following the 1999 death of her husband, Anthony Radziwill, a cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr. Maxwell, meanwhile, was known as a well-connected socialite with ties to high-profile figures in media, politics and royalty.
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Radziwill shared that Maxwell once helped facilitate an introduction to former Prince Andrew, who is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Winsor after recently losing his royal title due to his own ties to Epstein, for a magazine interview.
Radziwill spoke with the former prince for her "Lunch Date" column, a celebrity interview feature that she contributed to Glamour magazine in the early 2000s.
During her interview with the NYT, Radziwill said she and Maxwell went to events together. In one instance, she remembered attending a cocktail party at Maxwell’s home where she recalled seeing Epstein, but said her friend never mentioned him.
"I never knew Jeffrey Epstein," she said.
Raziwill said the renewed spotlight has meant revisiting a chapter of her life she says she had long since closed.
According to Radziwill, her relationship with Maxwell was social rather than deeply personal, and she has previously said that she was never privy nor did she witness any of the criminal activity for which her former friend would later be convicted.
In December 2021, Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy to entice and transport minors for illegal sex acts. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in June 2022.
Epstein died in prison in August 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
As the Epstein scandal exploded into public view years later, Radziwill distanced herself from Maxwell and has since spoken about the unsettling realization that someone she once knew socially was involved in such serious crimes.
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Her comments to The New York Times echo similar statements she has made previously, in which she described her association with Maxwell as an example of how proximity to high-profile social circles can lead to unexpected and, in hindsight, troubling connections.
The release of Epstein-related documents has ensnared a wide range of public figures, from politicians to celebrities, many of whom have stressed that being named in the files does not imply involvement in wrongdoing. Legal experts have similarly cautioned that the documents often reflect loose associations, such as being listed in an address book or mentioned in correspondence.
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Still, the renewed attention has forced those named, including Radziwill, to publicly reckon with past relationships that now carry a different weight.
Today, Radziwill told the NYT that she is focused on moving forward, even as her name reenters the public conversation in connection with one of the most notorious scandals in recent memory.
Radizwill explained that she sought solace from the advice of her late mother-in-law Lee Radziwill, who passed away in 2019.
"She knew that part of being very, very public and very famous, like she was, was that people are going to misunderstand, and you had to be OK with that," Radziwill said. "And for a very, very long time, I was not OK with it, but now I am. It’s a really hard place to get to, but once you’re there, it’s, like, a peaceful feeling. You’re going to be misunderstood, and it’s OK."