Jeffrey Epstein asked an unidentified woman to buy a Snow White costume weeks before the character was mentioned in a notorious email from former Barclays CEO Jes Staley, who resigned following an investigation into his ties to the late financier and sex offender.
“I would love to take photos of you in a Snow White costume. You can get it from the costume store,” Epstein wrote the woman in the June 20, 2010 email first reported by the Financial Times.
“Will get it!” the woman replied.
The exchange was part of the Justice Department’s Friday release of millions of more Epstein files, which added to the record of his close connections with powerful figures in finance and politics.
Three weeks after Epstein’s message to the woman, Staley, who has admitted to having sex with a member of Epstein’s staff, emailed him on July 10, 2010, writing: “that was fun. Say hi to Snow White.”
A person who appears to be a second woman referenced the same costume in a message sent to Epstein that day, writing: “The snow white was f..ed twice as soon as she put her costume.”
During court proceedings years later, Staley was asked whether he remembered referring to any women accompanying Epstein as Disney characters or princesses, or identifying specific individuals as “Snow White.”
The former Barclays chief replied simply: “No.”
“I honest to God, when I went through the emails I have no idea what this refers to. I have no idea who Snow White is,” Staley said during testimony.
The newly released trove of emails included multiple exchanges between Epstein and a woman the Financial Times chose not to name, some of which contain descriptions of girls and young women.
In one April 2010 message, the woman wrote to Epstein: “Milan could be interesting as well. Girls are hungry there.” She added: “May be we pick one girl from all the girls i ve seen to start with? I will make snaps and videos tmw . . .”
In another email from September of that year, the woman described someone she referred to as “the second — 21,” writing: “Discrete, not stupid but not too smart . . . stubborn, wants to study acting, looked a bit lost, no goals in life, was late for one hour, rents a room in east village, doesn’t like to go to places where all models go.”
Staley’s ties to Epstein stretched back to the late 1990s, when the former was a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase and Epstein was one of the bank’s most important clients.
In the ensuing years, the two men kept in touch, traveling together and socializing at Epstein’s properties even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Staley sought Epstein’s advice during the 2008 financial crisis, according to court filings and regulatory records. Epstein also played a role in expanding Staley’s professional network.
In 2015, Staley was appointed chief executive of Barclays, the London-based banking giant.
British regulators later found that Barclays misled them about the nature of Staley’s relationship with Epstein, describing it as limited and professional when evidence showed it was far closer and more personal.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority concluded that Staley acted “without integrity” and imposed a lifetime ban preventing him from holding senior management roles in the British financial industry.
Epstein’s 2019 arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges and his death in jail weeks later triggered renewed scrutiny of the bankers, institutions, and executives who had remained connected to him.
The fallout has since cost JPMorgan hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and effectively ended Staley’s career at the top of global finance.
In December, the DOJ released emails indicating that Epstein named Staley and Lawrence Summers as executors of his estate in draft wills.
A spokesperson for Staley was not immediately available for comment.
