Naomi Campbell, Epstein, and the ‘Two Playmates’ Text: What Really Matters

Fresh files about Naomi Campbell and Jeffrey Epstein read like bad fiction, but the real story is about power, denial, and who gets forgiven for what.

Naomi Campbell is trending again, and it’s not for a runway comeback or a baby announcement. Newly reported documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s world suggest Ghislaine Maxwell once texted Campbell about having “two playmates” for her and show Epstein turning up at several of her parties, even after his conviction as a sex offender.

The instinct is to ask: What did Naomi know and when did she know it? I’d argue the sharper question is this: Why do so many glamorous, grown adults keep orbiting men they’d never let near their daughters?

The Moment

According to newly released files, described in a February 2026 report from a UK newspaper that reviewed the material, Epstein was invited by Campbell to at least three events: a 2004 Fire & Ice party in St. Tropez and two fashion-related parties in 2010, including a Fashion for Relief event and a Paris tribute hosted by Dolce & Gabbana. By 2010, Epstein was not just a controversial figure; he was a registered sex offender, having pleaded guilty in 2008 to offenses involving a minor and serving 13 months in a Florida jail, followed by a year of house arrest, according to court records summarized by outlets like BBC News.

The same UK report says Campbell was on the guest list for a small New York dinner about four months after Epstein’s release, during a visit by then-Prince Andrew, another figure whose friendship with Epstein has aged like milk. It also cites a message in which Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly tells Campbell, “Hey – why are you not in NY? Remember, I have two playmates for you.” Campbell’s reported reply: no curiosity about what that means, just a casual note that she’s in Miami and heading to Los Angeles, plus a suggestion they meet up soon.

Then there’s the photo that never really went away: Campbell’s 31st birthday party in 2001, on a yacht in the South of France. In those images, you see Naomi, Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Virginia Giuffre-then Virginia Roberts-who later said in sworn statements that she was being trafficked by Epstein at the time. Giuffre has alleged she was sexually abused that night by a man Epstein introduced to her and that soon afterward she was introduced in London to Prince Andrew, according to her civil filings and televised interviews. There is no allegation that Campbell herself abused Giuffre.

Fast-forward: Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 on federal charges, including child sex trafficking and conspiracy for recruiting and grooming teen girls for Epstein between 1999 and 2007, according to the jury verdict in U.S. v. Maxwell reported by The New York Times and others. Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on separate sex trafficking charges. Campbell, now in her 50s, has never been charged with any crime related to Epstein.

The Take

Here’s where I land: This is less a whodunit and more a case study in willful blindness among the rich and famous.

There is still no public evidence that Naomi Campbell knew about Epstein’s alleged trafficking operation, let alone participated in it. In 2019, on her own YouTube channel, she said she was “shocked” and “sickened” by what came out about Epstein and insisted she had no idea what he was doing. That matters.

But so does this: by the late 2000s, Epstein wasn’t an enigmatic financier with whispered rumors. He was a convicted sex offender. There’s a big moral difference between meeting a man at a glitzy party in 2001 and still inviting him into your world in 2010.

Why do smart women-and men-keep powerful predators in their contact lists long after the mask slips? In Campbell’s case, her own story offers a clue. She’s spoken openly about not knowing her father, leaving London for Paris at 16, and attaching herself to older mentor figures. Designer Azzedine Alaia was “Papa.” Nelson Mandela was her “grandfather.” When you’ve learned that survival in your industry depends on powerful protectors, the line between “safety net” and “red flag” can blur, especially when billions of dollars and private jets are involved.

This isn’t about one supermodel’s secret guilt; it’s about a whole ecosystem that treats a sex offender conviction like a bad Yelp review instead of a hard stop.

Celebrity culture has a terrible habit: it frames these relationships as networking, charity, mentorship, anything but what they sometimes are, which is access to proximity and power at any cost. Look at the pattern: how long did Hollywood keep inviting Harvey Weinstein to awards shows after the whispers became roars? How many tech and finance titans still have their names on buildings despite documented misconduct?

Campbell’s story slots neatly into that pattern. You’ve got a world-famous model whose social circle includes royals, billionaires, and heads of state. You’ve got Epstein, a man who collected famous friends like trading cards because their fame made him seem legitimate. And you’ve got Ghislaine Maxwell, the social fixer who bridged those two worlds. Somewhere in there, common sense should have taken over. It didn’t.

Does that make Naomi Campbell a criminal? No. Does it make her judgment look terrible in hindsight? Absolutely. And that’s the uncomfortable middle ground a lot of public figures live in: not perpetrators, not victims, just people who chose not to look too closely at the monsters in their midst, and now want that to be a footnote instead of a headline.

Receipts

Confirmed:

• Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution, serving 13 months in a county jail and registering as a sex offender, according to Florida court records widely reported by outlets including BBC News (July 2019 coverage).
• Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on multiple federal counts, including sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy, in December 2021 in the Southern District of New York; the verdict was reported by The New York Times and other major outlets on December 29, 2021.
• Photographs from Naomi Campbell’s 31st birthday party in 2001 show Campbell, Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Virginia Giuffre together on a yacht in the South of France. These images have been published repeatedly in mainstream media and referenced in Giuffre’s civil filings.
• Virginia Giuffre has stated in sworn court documents and televised interviews that Epstein sexually abused her as a teenager and that Maxwell recruited and groomed her. She has also alleged that she met Prince Andrew through Epstein and Maxwell while she was being trafficked.
• In a 2019 video on her official YouTube channel, Campbell addressed her past association with Epstein, saying she was unaware of his crimes at the time, calling the revelations “shocking” and “sickening,” and denying any involvement.

Reported / Not independently verified:

• That Naomi Campbell invited Epstein to three specific events-her 2004 Fire & Ice party in St. Tropez, a 2010 Fashion for Relief event, and a 2010 Paris tribute hosted by Dolce & Gabbana-comes from February 2026 reporting by a UK newspaper that says it reviewed newly released Epstein-related files. Those underlying files have not been publicly hosted in full at the time of this writing.
• The claim that Campbell was invited to a small New York dinner about four months after Epstein’s release from jail, during a visit by then-Prince Andrew, is drawn from the same UK report and has not yet been corroborated through court documents available to the public.
• The quoted exchange in which Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly texts Campbell about having “two playmates” and Campbell replies that she is in Miami and heading to Los Angeles is likewise based on those reported documents; the original messages have not been published in full for independent review.
• Reports that Campbell’s then-boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin, invited Epstein to join them on a private Nile trip in 2010 also originate from the same batch of reported documents.

Backstory (For the Casual Reader)

If you’re only half-following this saga, here’s the quick rewind. Naomi Campbell exploded into global fame in the late 1980s and 1990s as one of the original supermodels, walking for every major fashion house from Versace to Chanel. She’s talked about growing up without a father, leaving London for Paris at 16 to pursue modeling, and leaning on older mentors: Tunisian-French designer Azzedine Alaia, whom she called “Papa,” and South African leader Nelson Mandela, whom she described as a grandfather figure. Her romantic and social life has often been entwined with extreme wealth – think Formula One boss Flavio Briatore and later Russian real-estate billionaire Vladislav Doronin.

Jeffrey Epstein, a financier with murky sources of money, spent years cultivating powerful friends-politicians, royals, celebrities, and business titans. Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, was his close companion and, according to her conviction, his chief recruiter of underage girls. Virginia Giuffre emerged as one of the most prominent accusers, filing civil suits that helped expose the scope of Epstein’s alleged trafficking network and dragging other high-profile names into the spotlight.

Campbell’s name has hovered at the edge of this story for years via photographs and guest lists, but she’s never been accused of abuse herself. Now, with new documents surfacing and old images recirculating, the question isn’t just who knew what, when. It’s how many in that rarefied circle chose comfortable proximity over uncomfortable truth, and what accountability looks like for that choice.

Where do you draw the line: if a public figure keeps social ties with a convicted sex offender, is that a forgivable lapse in judgment, or a dealbreaker that should follow them as long as the photos do?

Sources

• Florida court records and reporting on Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 plea deal and sentence, as summarized by BBC News, July 2019.
• U.S. v. Ghislaine Maxwell, verdict reported by The New York Times and other outlets, December 29, 2021.
• Naomi Campbell, “Addressing My Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” video on Naomi Campbell’s Official YouTube Channel, August 2019.
• Virginia Giuffre’s civil filings and interviews regarding Epstein and Maxwell, as covered by major U.S. and UK news networks between 2015 and 2022.
• February 2026 reporting in a UK newspaper describing newly released Epstein-related documents referencing Naomi Campbell.