Emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2026 reveal that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein boasted to associates about securing a private after-hours visit to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris with filmmaker Woody Allen on March 18, 2012. In the correspondence, Epstein wrote to a recipient identified only as 'junkermann' that the French government would open the museum for him and Allen, and later messaged others including former girlfriend Eva Dubin, who responded with a 'King of the castle' quip. Epstein also made crude sexual references in connection with the visit, mentioning Edgar Degas's depictions of nude women.
This story matters because it ties two prominent figures—Epstein, whose sex trafficking network has been the subject of ongoing legal and public scrutiny, and Woody Allen, who has faced his own sexual abuse allegations—to a prestigious cultural institution, raising questions about how power and influence can grant privileged access to museums. The revelation also underscores the continued fallout from the Epstein case, as newly released documents keep generating headlines that implicate high-profile individuals in his orbit, potentially affecting public perception of the art world's relationship with wealth and notoriety.