Melania director Brett Ratner was pictured cozying up to Jeffrey Epstein in newly released photos published by the Department of Justice.
In a previous document dump, Ratner was shown hugging Jean-Luc Brunel, one of Epstein’s associates, accused of supplying girls to the late sex trafficker and others. This photo was included in the 15 thumbnails depicting Ratner released by the DOJ as part of more than 3 million Epstein files released on Friday.
The director, 56, is one of many high-profile figures featured in the Epstein files. Other notable individuals in the documents include former president Bill Clinton, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, ex-Prince Andrew, and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. Those included in the files have not necessarily been implicated in or convicted of crimes. Many people linked to Epstein have previously denied any wrongdoing.
In the images released Friday, Ratner can be seen on a sofa, sometimes with Epstein and Brunel, and sometimes with three women whose faces have been redacted.
The Daily Beast reached out to a representative for Ratner for comment.
The photo release comes as Ratner celebrates the release of Melania, a pseudo-documentary following First Lady Melania Trump in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s second presidential inauguration. The film marked Ratner’s return to directing after largely staying out of the spotlight for the better part of a decade. He was accused of sexual misconduct by six women in 2017, although he denied the allegations.
Melania has been plagued with bad reviews—it currently has a 6 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes—and criticism of its $75 million budget. Ratner defended the price tag and called cost complaints “silly” in an interview with Deadline.
“We spent more money on music in this than I did on Rush Hour,” he said. “I mean, top of the line, three best cinematographers in the world, at the highest level. Eighty people on the first day of shooting in my crew. That’s not unheard of in a documentary. You put the money on the screen.”
Numerous crew members reportedly asked to have their names removed from the film, with one telling Rolling Stone they were a “little bit uncomfortable with the propaganda element of this.” Several cited Ratner, who is best known for directing the Rush Hour movies, as a problem on set.
Ratner responded to this criticism during the premiere of Melania on Thursday.
“I understand if a liberal is working on the movie and they don’t want to be credited, but they want to feed their family,” he told Variety in a red carpet interview. “I don’t blame anybody for that. I don’t know who didn’t want to be a part of it, I wasn’t aware of it, but I learned about it when I read it.”
