'Bring Your Harem!': Virgin Group Boss Richard Branson's Emails To Sex Offender Epstein Exposed

Washington: Virgin Group's billionaire Founder Sir Richard Branson has once again come under the spotlight of the Epstein sex scandal after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released more than 3 million pages of documents, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images in the latest Epstein disclosure. The freshly-released documents revealed an old email in which Branson asked disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein to bring a "harem" to his private island.

Email Exchange Details

The newly-released Epstein files revealed a 2013 email where Sir Richard Branson invited the disgraced financier to visit his Necker Island.

On September 11, 2013, Epstein emailed Branson after a meeting on Necker Island, "Nice seeing you, thanks for your hospitality. I appreciate your public relations thoughts." Branson replied, "It was really nice seeing you yesterday. The boys in Watersport can't stop speaking about it. Any time you're in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!" Branson then offered detailed PR advice to Epstein, who had already pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution.

Branson's email further read, "I think if Bill Gates was willing to say that you've been a brilliant advisor to him, that you slipped up many years ago by sleeping with a 17 and a half year old woman and was punished for it, that you have more than learnt your lesson and have done nothing that's against the law since and, yes, as a single man you seem to have a penchant for women. But there is nothing wrong with that."

The duo had also exchanged mails earlier in April 2023, when Epstein mentioned "two Russian girls".

Branson's Response

Branson has distanced himself from Jeffrey Epstein, emphasising no personal friendship with him or awareness of his crimes at the time.

A Virgin Group spokesperson told the Independent, "Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein took place on only a few occasions more than twelve years ago, and was limited to group or business settings, such as a charity tennis event." The spokesperson added, "Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and supports the right to justice for his many victims."

Branson's team confirmed that Epstein attended two brief business meetings on Necker Island in April and September 2013. It claimed that in September, Epstein arrived at the island by helicopter with three adult women who socialized separately with a sports team on the island and did not join the business discussion. Epstein later referred to them as his "harem," a term Branson echoed without knowing Epstein's full criminal history, his team claimed.

Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex-trafficking trial.

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