Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich

Series description: “Survivors reveal the manipulation, abuse and emotional scars suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Their stories expose a sex trafficking ring of powerful enablers leading up to his 2019 arrest.”

These days it is impossible to ignore the story of Epstein. According to Netflix, “the 2020 four-part docuseries Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, directed by Lisa Bryant, provides a comprehensive overview of the disgraced financier’s life and crimes.”

As it was released in 2020, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich only goes through the period of his two arrests and his death. However, as this review is being written in February 2026, much more information has come out, so we should strike the word “comprehensive” from Netflix’s description of the series. Nevertheless, this series serves as a good introduction to this massive matter. We get a good idea of who Jeffrey Epstein was and how he and Ghislaine Maxwell operated.

The series consists of four episodes, each a little less than an hour. I watched them over the space of two days, a sign they were very watchable (at least for me). I was initially squeamish about the content; each episode warns about the descriptions of sexual abuse, which may be triggering. They do show artwork of partially clothed and sometimes nude women.

Before we review the material covered by this series, let’s discuss what it does not cover. There is very little about Donald Trump. Although we know many, many girls and young women were abused by Epstein, less than ten made appearances on the show. Some of the financial issues were revealed, but there’s still a lot outstanding.

The episodes open with Epstein giving testimony, or rather, not giving testimony, as he almost always pleads the fifth. Over the four episodes we see his charm, his manipulation, and his long history of dishonesty and theft. Epstein lied to get his first position as a math and physics teacher at the Dalton School (a NYC prep school), claiming he had graduated from college when he had not. Then he went to work at Bear Stearns, and when his resume’s falsehoods were found out, he managed to charm them into letting him stay (something like, “I always wanted this opportunity”). Later Bear Stearns did fire Epstein for violating rules. The series then says he went to work for Towers Financial Corporation, a debt collection agency, which hired him because he was a fraud (they had a Ponzi scheme going).

Epstein was a crook and a pedophile for decades. The series shows the smoothness of his lies and how he and Ghislaine Maxwell manipulated girls and young women into doing what they wanted. Sometimes they managed it with money; other times just telling the girls what to do was enough (these were kids, accustomed to obeying adults). On other occasions they used threats.

The series also follows how reports of his crimes were ignored or quashed. Some victims, parents of victims, journalists and police tried either to spread the word or stop him. Epstein charmed some into looking the other way, and when charm did not work, he and Maxwell turned to threats. They had the detectives, lawyers and victims followed and threatened.

One of the most amazing things was the original sentence Epstein received back in 2008, a sentence so lenient it defies imagination. Great credit has to be given to those who pushed back against this travesty, including survivors, lawyers, authors, journalists, and good politicians.

Here are Netflix’s descriptions of the four episodes:

Episode 1: “Hunting Grounds” Survivors share their stories of abuse at the hands of Epstein facilitated by Maxwell, as local law enforcement revisits the early days of the investigation into the so-called molestation “pyramid scheme” the billionaire ran out of his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.

Episode 2: “Follow the Money” Investigators unravel the complex web of money and connections that helped Epstein evade justice for years. As police build their case, Epstein puts his massive wealth and influence to use in fighting back.

Episode 3: “The Island” New revelations emerge about what happened on Epstein’s private island, as survivors detail the abuse they endured there. After securing an unprecedentedly lenient plea deal, Epstein’s network comes under renewed scrutiny.

Episode 4: “Finding Their Voice” The case comes to a head with Epstein’s 2019 arrest bringing long-awaited court testimony from his accusers, but questions linger as Epstein dies by apparent suicide after only a short time behind bars.

Bits and pieces

Kudos to James Patterson and John Connolly with Tim Malloy, the authors of Filthy Rich (2016), to director Lisa Bryant, and to Netflix, for their work to make this story when so many would not come forward.

Bear Stearns failed during the Great Recession and the remains were purchased by JP Morgan Chase. My opinion is that the ethical corner cutting that allowed Epstein to remain after his resume was discovered to be fraudulent is an indication of the culture throughout the organization and helped lead to its demise.

Somehow, I missed the Towers Ponzi scheme, which, before Bernie Madoff, was the largest Ponzi scheme ever.

Steve Hoffenberg, who hired Epstein for the Tower Ponzi scheme, spent 18 years in prison for his crimes and repented. Epstein may have turned on him and hence got away with his part in the matter.

Bill Clinton denies having been to Epstein’s island but two witnesses put him there. However, a survivor said Bill Clinton, as far as she knew, never did anything wrong. She accompanied Clinton, Epstein, and Maxwell on a trip to Africa (the reason for the majority of Clinton’s flights on Epstein’s plane, as there were several hops between countries) and everyone was well behaved on that trip.

Questions

Usually I do a quotes section but that doesn’t really work for this series, so want to cover some of the open questions:

The death of Jeffrey Epstein: suicide or murder? The series gave a couple reasons it would be suicide. First, Epstein signed a last will and testament two days before he died (a will that has made it much more difficult for the victims to get compensation). Also, the correctional facility was underfunded and understaffed, meaning cameras and other equipment were not always working. On the side of not suicide, at least in the series, are some inconsistencies in the autopsy report. (Many more questions get raised outside the series, including a memo in New York about the death that seems to pre-date Epstein’s death. Also saw some speculation about how Epstein might not be dead at all, but was taken away to some other country.)

The plea deal from 2008 – how the hell did that happen? Given how ridiculously light it was, why did they bother at all? My best guess is that it was a terrible compromise between those who wanted to stop him and those who wanted to protect powerful people.

Who are the co-conspirators?

How did Esptein get all that money? We know about some of his ill-gotten gains, but not all. Blackmail? Working for other governments? There were cameras everywhere.

Is his network still being used? Epstein was not just a charmer, a pedophile, sex trafficker and a blackmailer, but he seems to have had perfected the art of surveillance and threats. It's hard to imagine he did this on his own: is anyone using his network now? Many politicians and corporate leaders have bent to pressure when you think they would not. Is there dirt on them, or are they just being threatened?

Overall rating

I thought this was a good introduction to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, providing insight in how he managed to do what he did. It’s important to understand this, and it shows the humanity of the people involved, such as the survivors, the journalists and the investigators, so I can recommend watching it. But, given the material, I don’t feel as if I can rate it.

Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.