A former top modelling agency executive had a closer relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than previously known, introducing him to women on her agency’s books, a Guardian investigation has found.
Faith Kates, 68, ran Next Management until November 2024, representing stars like Alexa Chung and Billie Eilish. She stepped down weeks before the first major Epstein files were released. Documents published by the US Department of Justice reveal emails showing Kates secretly took business advice from Epstein and discussed multimillion-dollar loans.
Kates offered Epstein her “unconditional” friendship after his 2009 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution, and continued emailing him until his 2019 arrest. She also met him regularly, including with the then Prince Andrew in December 2010. Over nearly 40 years, she connected a number of her models with Epstein, though there is no evidence she knew of his offending before 2009.
Next Management has distanced itself from Kates, saying her relationship with Epstein “was completely and absolutely unknown” to them. A spokesperson for Kates said she “never put a model in harm’s way” and that Epstein “was a master manipulator”.
The files contain over 5,000 mentions of Kates, with emails showing her telling Epstein “I really do love you like a brother”. One model, Stacey Williams, said Kates introduced her to Epstein in 1992, leading to a relationship Williams described as partly non-consensual.
