Carole Radziwill Has More to Say About the Epstein Files

Carole Radziwill was always going to be asked about Jeffery Epstein on The Real Housewives of New York City. The interest in her name being included in the “Epstein files,” redacted emails and documents released by the FBI as part of its investigation into the now-deceased sex offender’s crimes, is evergreen. On last night’s episode, the returning Housewife directly addressed the speculation. How, many wondered, including her fellow Housewives, was Radziwill connected to such a monster? And how would she defend herself? Radziwill was not only seemingly prepared to defend her reputation, but, following the episode’s airing, she released a supplementary Substack essay calling out the FBI for not investigating Epstein and Sai De Silva for not believing her.

While on vacation on fellow Housewife Erika Hammond’s shared private island, Radziwill brings up the files herself. Her connection, she explains, is not that complicated, even if the association is frustrating. She was friendly with Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, throughout the 2000s. During her explanation, Radziwill is collected and composed — she’s prepared for this moment. But what she clearly doesn’t expect is the immediate pushback from her castmate. De Silva grills Radziwill about her connection, confirming that her castmate had never been to Epstein’s island. “So what was your relationship with Ghislaine,” she asks. “’Cause weren’t you two really good friends?” Radziwill clarifies: “If you read the press we were.” 

Radziwill says that Epstein’s crimes felt personal to her not only because she knew Maxwell but also because she was sexually assaulted in college by a professor. “This professor was celebrated,” she says. “This professor had lots of friends who didn’t know that he was assaulting young students. Welcome to fucking patriarchy.” 

Radziwill is clear about why she and Maxwell appeared in photos together. “In the early 2000s, it would be strange if you went out to a party in New York and Ghislaine wasn’t there,” Radziwill explains in her confessional. “I was friendly with her. We had a few mutual girlfriends. And when I would see Ghislaine, it would always be with these mutual girlfriends. But I didn’t know Jeffrey Epstein. I never met him. She never talked about him.” But they were never close. Radziwill tells the girls Maxwell was never interested in the real Carole Radziwill, only her name, because Maxwell was a chronic social climber.

De Silva says in her confessional that she still doesn’t “buy” Radziwill’s depiction of the relationship. She tells Radziwill that “the messages between you were very jokey-jokey. It was weird.” De Silva explains her harsh reaction by noting that she has a daughter, and thinking of the girls who were hurt makes her “sick.” Radziwill doesn’t love that explanation. “There’s a fine line between curiosity and accusation,” Radziwill says in her confessional. “Why are you using your daughter as a shield?” 

After the show aired, Radziwill criticized the FBI for its treatment of the files and victims on her Substack, The Voice of Reason with Carole Radziwill, in what she calls a “Field Report.” “The FBI failed to properly investigate Epstein, and then, in a striking double standard, the names of powerful men were carefully redacted — leaving the names and personal details of victims, along with other innocent people —including me — exposed for anyone to read,” she wrote. “We are just collateral damage in what appears to be a system that has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect wealthy, powerful men.”

After taking on the systemic issues, Radziwill responded directly to her conversation with De Silva. “Honestly, I was taken aback when Sai began pressing me,” she wrote. “It wasn’t the questions themselves. I’d heard them all before. It was the subtext. She seemed to be repeating lies she’d picked up on TikTok, treating online speculation as grounds for an interrogation.” She added, “Imagine having your name dragged all over tabloids and social media for something you had nothing to do with. Now imagine telling a friend the truth, answering all the questions, then sharing something as personal as your own sexual assault as a college student — something I still find difficult to say out loud — only to have her not buy it.” On the show and off, you better believe trained journalist Radziwill is gonna talk about it.