Documents in the Justice Department’s release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein appear to show ties between the financier and convicted sex offender and a New York art collector and magazine publisher, and her developer-investor husband.
Lisa Fayne Cohen and her husband, Jimmy Cohen—founder, CEO, and chairman of the real estate and development firm Hudson Capital Properties—were in close contact with Epstein in 2015 and early 2016, long after his crimes were a matter of public knowledge, according to emails released in the so-called Epstein Files, which began to be released in December. There is no indication in the files of any wrongdoing on either’s part.
In one email exchange, Lisa Cohen was laying the groundwork for the launch of Galerie magazine. Not long after, Epstein’s Paris apartment appeared anonymously on the cover of the magazine’s second issue, in fall 2016, and in an extensive spread inside.
The Cohens began collecting art in 2009 with a work by French modernist Fernand Léger, according to a 2023 Artnet News profile, which noted that they own an apartment overlooking Central Park in Manhattan, along with homes in East Hampton, Palm Beach, and New Jersey. Artnet reported that the couple owns works by modern and contemporary artists including Jennifer Bartlett, Cecily Brown, George Condo, Jean Dubuffet, Mark Grotjahn, Keith Haring, Hans Hofmann, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Joan Mitchell.
Galerie, which was launched in 2016 and is still operating, covers art, luxury, interiors, design, and architecture, with a stated circulation of 125,000. The magazine says its subscribers include art collectors, interior designers, private jet terminals, art galleries and fairs, and five-star hotels and spas.
Epstein’s crimes first came to public attention in 2005, when Florida police began investigating him. He was arrested in 2006 after being indicted on a charge of soliciting prostitution, though he was accused of molesting underage girls. He pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor and served jail time until 2009. One of his accusers, Virginia Giuffre, filed a lawsuit in 2009, claiming Epstein and his onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, arranged for her to have sexual encounters with “royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen,” and others. She gave an interview to the Daily Mail in 2011 in which she said she traveled to London with Epstein at age 17 and spent a night dancing with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then known as Prince Andrew. Giuffre’s lawyers filed court papers in December 2014.
The Cohens would connect with Epstein the following year.
‘Jimmy Needs a Mentor Like You’
In one of the first relevant emails in the file, NEXT Model Management cofounder Faith Kates wrote to Cohen on November 2, 2015, saying the financier would like a visit that day if possible. (She later retired after her links to Epstein became known, but reportedly attributed the decision to being a “30 year cancer survivor” who wanted to “step back… in order to give back.”) “Copying him here (he’s flying now) but email him he has wifi (haha),” wrote Kates. Cohen responded that she was on deadline “with the arts and design website and magazine I am working on,” but suggested a meeting on November 3.
That day, according to the emails, Cohen went to 9 East 71st Street, Epstein’s mansion from 1995 until his death in 2019. On November 14, Cohen corresponded with Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff, saying she wanted to speak with Epstein about “possible interior design ideas and plans for the NY townhouse.” On November 15, she wrote to Groff to say that she had spoken with Epstein: “We want to photograph a few rooms in Jeffrey’s Paris apartment re: a story on Vintage [Alberto] Pinto design.” The next day, Cohen emailed Groff, “Thanks so much for arranging Paris De Pinto shoot with Suzanne for the 9th.” (Suzanne Slesin, publisher and editorial director at New York–based Pointed Leaf Press, had been tapped as the magazine’s editor in chief.)
The Galerie issue features a heavily beige apartment on the cover, accompanied by the cover line “Vintage Paris.” The 16-page spread describes a 7,500-square-foot residence in “one of the grandest 19th-century apartment buildings on Paris’ exclusive Avenue Foch,” renovated that year at a reported cost of about $1.3 million by French photographer and interior designer Alberto Pinto, who reportedly counted Epstein as “a longtime international client.” Pinto’s other clients included “royal families, Middle Eastern potentates, billionaires, and celebrities,” as well as “Agnellis, Rothschilds, Kochs, and Safras,” Galerie notes.
As described in the magazine, Pinto commissioned Paris-based artist Florence Derive to create Constructivist-inspired wall paintings and to paint the living room ceiling in crimson, with plaster clouds surrounding an “enormous” 1950s Murano glass chandelier. Other artworks included a wood sculpture by French artist Jacques Berthaux, a charcoal drawing by Korean artist Yoo Hye-Sook, and a steel-and-plastic elephant chair by French artist Bernard Rancillac. The apartment would later sell for $10.5 million to Bulgarian businessman Georgi Tuchev.
Asked to comment on their having publicized Epstein’s home and why he was not identified as the owner, the Cohens responded via an emailed statement from their publicist, Ken Frydman, who said, “Galerie Magazine did not ‘publicize (Epstein’s) home.’ The spread featured the work of renowned interior designer Alberto Pinto. Pinto’s sister, Linda Pinto, was the intermediary between her brother’s Paris-based interior design and decoration firm and Galerie’s editorial and production teams. The magazine focuses on architecturally-unique homes, spotlighting designers, decorators and art. Not owners. In fact, the majority of owners are not identified.”
On November 21, 2015, Epstein wrote to Cohen, “could you ask jimmy to call me today … hes great.” Cohen replied, “He thinks u r great too. He really needs a mentor like you. (actually there is no one else like you!) Why don’t u stop over on Thursday down in [Palm Beach], possibly have Thanksgiving dinner or even a drink with us? You can meet all my boys which would be a great help planing [sic] the estate and etc. we have so much to try to figure out.”
When Epstein emailed the next day, saying he was free to speak with Jimmy, Cohen replied with his cell phone number: “Keep this number and the 2 of u will be connected at the hip.”
On December 14, Cohen wrote, “I have been thinking about you. I have been speaking to Penny [Drue Baird, the interior designer] and I believe you could possibly make a deal with her to give you full attention (and give up her office on Madison). I want to drop off all three of her past interior design books she wrote so that you can get a better idea of the scope of her work from her Paris days to New York. If you want me also to work with her to really elevate the main rooms in the residences I would do that for you. You have been so kind to Jimmy and really appreciate your friendship and kindness.” The message concludes with a heart emoji. Epstein’s characteristically laconic reply: “im here in new york till wed, have jimmy call me.”
Asked to comment on their friendship with Epstein, Frydman said that “The Cohens were acquainted with Epstein, not friends.” Frydman also said the Cohens never met with Epstein.
Cohen invited Epstein to her 2015 New Year’s Eve party and helped set up a meeting with Baird in January 2016. (“They only invited him to their New Year’s Eve party at the request of a mutual friend,” said Frydman.) On January 3, Epstein wrote to Cohen that he would like help finding an estate manager for the house. Cohen’s response suggests the meeting with Baird: “Do u want me to consult with her too and come to the meeting? I can bring all the whimsy that I know you love into the spaces. It’s my way of thanking you for all you do for JC. He needs a mentor like you to bounce his business decisions off of and he really appreciates having you in his life.”
Sharing Intimate Memories with Woody Allen
The files also contain text message exchanges between Epstein and Jimmy Cohen. Cohen’s father Robert was the founder of the Hudson News chain, recognizable from over 1,000 stores in “airports, commuter hubs, landmarks and tourist destinations across North America,” as the company notes on its website. Cohen was supposedly set to buy the National Enquirer for $100 million in 2019, but the deal “never materialized,” the New York Post reported in 2020, while noting that he had once engineered a deal for American Media to buy OK! Magazine for $22 million and sold American Media his 50 percent stake. Cohen sold his retail Hudson News outlets to a private equity firm but maintained an interest as a shareholder, the Post writes.
On November 28, 2015, Epstein proposed that he and Jimmy Cohen meet. “Was out all week at art basel w lisa…what a mob scene…my GC DID however give me a fairly detailed outline of my estate/will as of this past summer. Should be helpful in getting things going…definitely focused on homestead issue this week,” Cohen writes. “Homestead not right,” replies Epstein. “Send your summary and we can review if you like.” Cohen asks if Epstein has seen The Big Short. “No I have not,” says Epstein, “But I am intimately familiar with the characters it portrays.” They go on to discuss the New Year’s Eve party, whose theme is the Rat Pack.
The next month, Jimmy Cohen mentions heading to a polo match in Vero Beach, Florida. “Wasps for a day!”
“Dining with our mutual friends Tim and Nina, showing them your beautiful apartment in the current issue of Galerie!” writes Cohen in one text, from October 11, 2016.
On January 1, 2016, Jimmy Cohen texts Epstein some fairly intimate information about his wife, saying that he is “using my spare phone,” and referring to film director Woody Allen, who apparently attended the NYE bash.
“So happy you and your group could make it last night,” he writes. “And a special thanks for putting my Alex together with woody. Looks like they had a really nice chat…we did too, as he’s been filming in my backyard (new jersey) for so many years…some fun stories, including the night Lisa got pregnant with our second son after seeing one of his movies at the Paris theater!!!!”