What does it take to get invited to dinner at a convicted sex offender's house?
It depends on who you are. If you're a comedian, he gives you a free apartment. If you're a media mogul, he arranges a hike on his private island. If you're a movie star, he brokers your international endorsement deals through a former British cabinet minister. And if you're Henry Kissinger, you just show up and sit between J.J. Abrams and Lloyd Blankfein.
The unsealed documents reveal that Jeffrey Epstein's 71st Street mansion in Manhattan wasn't just a residence. It was a salon — a rotating social machine that mixed comedians with billionaires, magicians with heads of state, and Hollywood names with the most powerful men in finance. The dinner table was the product. The guest list was the proof.
The Regulars
Some people didn't just attend Epstein's dinners. They lived in his buildings.
Bobby Slayton — "The Pitbull of Comedy" — was the closest thing Epstein had to a house entertainer. The documents show Slayton staying in Epstein's apartments repeatedly: Apt 10B in September 2012, Apt 301 in May 2017.1 Epstein's staff ordered pizza for Slayton and delivered it to the apartment.2 He ate dinner with Woody Allen and Soon-Yi. He hung out with David Brenner and Lewis Black. And he served one specific function that no billionaire could fill.
He recruited other comedians.
In January 2014, Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff emailed Slayton directly:3
"Hi Bobby...Jeffrey would like you to invite Chris Rock to Sunday night's dinner! Let me know what he says!"
Before Slayton could extend the invitation, the office needed clearance. Groff emailed Soon-Yi Previn — Woody Allen's wife — to ask if Chris Rock was acceptable. Soon-Yi's answer:4
"no prob on inviting Chris Rock to dinner party Sunday."
Woody Allen's wife was approving the guest list for a convicted sex offender's dinner parties. That's the arrangement.
When Slayton couldn't deliver Rock, he offered alternatives. In one email, he asks whether Epstein wants Lewis Black instead, adding that he "could also invite Chris Rock, but he is not sure if Woody is a fan."5 The comedian was curating comedy lineups for a pedophile's dinner table, with the director of Annie Hall holding veto power.
David Blaine was something else entirely. The magician appeared at 19+ documented events between 2012 and 2016, making him one of the most frequent visitors to 71st Street in the entire corpus.6
But Blaine wasn't just performing card tricks after dessert. Epstein's staff were professionally editing a private video of Bill Gates and David Blaine at the residence. Groff emailed Epstein in March 2013:7
"Scott is working on editing your Bill Gates/David Blaine video...the audio is taking a bit of time...Scott would like to know if there is a deadline to when you want this finished?"
A convicted sex offender had a private video of the world's richest man and a celebrity magician being professionally produced in his home. And he wanted a deadline.
Blaine was also deployed as social bait. When Ariane de Rothschild and Reid Hoffman were coming to dinner in January 2014, Epstein's calendar noted:8
"If Ariane comes tonight along with Reid, have David Blaine come around 9pm?"
The magician was the closer. Bring in the banking heiress and the tech billionaire, then wheel out the entertainment.
Epstein kept an O-1 visa recommendation letter written by Blaine in his files. In it, Blaine lists performing privately for "Bill Gates" alongside "President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Henry Kissinger."9 The letter was written for a woman doing children's charity work in the U.S. Virgin Islands — Epstein's territory.
And Blaine's name appeared on Epstein's handwritten contact list — in his own hand, on physical paper seized as evidence — alongside Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, David Geffen, and Larry Summers.10
Dick Cavett, the legendary talk show host, was the third regular. He came through the Woody Allen connection and attended dinners from 2012 through at least 2017. In October 2017 — the same month the Weinstein scandal broke — Groff confirmed: "Dick Cavett will join you for the dinner tomorrow night with Woody at 7pm!"11
The Moguls
The regulars kept the table entertaining. The moguls made it powerful.
Barry Diller — chairman of IAC, one of the most powerful figures in American media — was on Little St. James Island. A message relayed to Ghislaine Maxwell on November 26, 2003:12
"Barry Diller would like to take a hike on the island. Please organize (Jeffrey said he would talk to you about this)."
That's the full message. The chairman of IAC wanted to take a hike on the private island of a man who would be convicted of sex offenses five years later. Maxwell was asked to organize it. There is no record of Diller declining.
Diller continued appearing in Epstein's orbit for years. At the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, a contact reported to Epstein: "Bill Gates & wife and Barry Diller & Diane v F 2 rows in front of me."13 Epstein's network tracked who sat near whom at the Olympics. That's the level of social surveillance this operation maintained.
David Geffen never needed to come to dinner. Epstein brokered him to Bill Gates instead.
The dossier records Epstein emailing a contact:14
"gates would like to meet with DAviD geffen. ideas?"
Boris Nikolic, Gates' science advisor, later confirmed the meeting happened: "Bill is having a small dinner in his home with just David Geffen and me." Epstein connected the entertainment mogul worth $10 billion to the technology mogul worth $100 billion — and took the credit.
Michael Ovitz — former chairman of CAA, former president of Disney — maintained an active relationship with Epstein post-conviction. Scheduled meetings in February and April 2012. Thank-you notes for restaurant reservations. And in November 2013, his name appeared on Epstein's elite investor list:15
"reid hoffman, andreeson, sinofsky, pritsker?, ovitz? merkin? milken? nathan?, j.j. abrahms"
The former king of Hollywood talent alongside the founders of Silicon Valley. Epstein was building something.
The Stars
Then there were the names everyone recognizes.
Leonardo DiCaprio didn't need to come to dinner. Epstein was working for him. On June 12, 2009, Epstein emailed Peter Mandelson — former UK Secretary of State for Business, a man with contacts across every government in Asia:16
"can you think of anyone in India china, japan, etc, that might want the endorsement of Leonardo DiCaprio, russia etc.. cars etc, he is looking for non-u.s. products to endorse to make some momey"
A convicted sex offender emailing a British politician to find international endorsement deals for one of the world's biggest movie stars. That's a sentence you have to read twice.
Mick Jagger was offered up like a party favor. In January 2011, Epstein emailed Boris Nikolic — Bill Gates' science advisor — about an upcoming dinner:17
"I can find out if mick jagger, ken starr, clinton, julie taymor, are in town? I suggest we leave it till mon night.. I will have no trouble getting anyone you want."
I will have no trouble getting anyone you want. Mick Jagger, Bill Clinton, and Ken Starr on the same menu. Epstein wasn't hosting dinners. He was operating a concierge service for power, and the product catalog included rock stars and former presidents.
Naomi Campbell maintained a direct line to Epstein. In September 2009, a staff member relayed:18
"Just received this text from Naomi Campbell: Hello sarah is JE able to speak? Im on x NC"
By 2015, Groff was still trying to schedule Campbell visits: "has not answered my email or returned my call re could she come and see you...did you want me to try for her again?"19
Campbell's name runs deeper than social calls. Flight logs place her on Epstein's Boeing 727 with Bill Clinton, returning from the UK to New York alongside three Secret Service agents.20 And in April 2002, Clinton messaged Ghislaine Maxwell about press coverage involving Campbell:21
"But what does it say about naomi?"
The former president, asking the future convicted sex trafficker about the supermodel. Three names. One sentence. No innocent explanation required — the proximity speaks for itself.
The Seating Chart
All of these threads — the comedians, the moguls, the stars — converge in a single document.
On May 12, 2014, Lesley Groff emailed Epstein a reminder about a dinner party planned for May 19th. The subject line: "Reminder: Possible Dinner Party Mon. May 19th?"22
The guest list:
Terje Rod Larsen Leon Black Ehud Barak Geithner Jes Staley Lloyd Blankfein Len Blavatnik Larry Summers David Blaine Jacob Frankel Woody Allen Checky JJ Abrahms Schwartman Kissinger
Read it again.
A former UN Special Envoy. The chairman of Apollo Global Management. A former Prime Minister of Israel. A former U.S. Treasury Secretary. The CEO of Barclays. The CEO of Goldman Sachs. A Ukrainian-born billionaire. A former president of Harvard and U.S. Treasury Secretary. A magician. A former Governor of the Bank of Israel. A director accused of molesting his adopted daughter. The director of Star Wars. The chairman of Blackstone. And the former Secretary of State.
All at one table. At 9 East 71st Street. At the home of a registered sex offender.
That's not a dinner party. That's a power grid — and one man controlled the seating chart.
What the Table Tells You
Epstein didn't collect famous people because he liked the conversation. He collected them because each name on the guest list made the next name more likely to say yes. Bobby Slayton got a free apartment so he'd recruit Chris Rock. David Blaine got a film editing suite so he'd perform for Rothschilds and Hoffmans. Mick Jagger was offered up so Boris Nikolic would come to dinner. And all of them — every comedian, every mogul, every rock star — served the same purpose as the $591,000 publicist we documented in The Red Carpet Fixer and the 100+ Woody Allen meetings we mapped in One Hundred Dinners.
They were the social infrastructure of a blackmail operation.
The dinner table at 71st Street was the place where the world's most powerful people sat together, in a sex offender's home, and let themselves be seen. And somewhere in that house, the documents suggest, someone was keeping track.
This article draws on the Epstein & Hollywood Research Dossier.
This article is part of the Epstein & Hollywood series. Previous: "16 Thank You Very Very Much". Next: The Reputation Machine — How Hollywood Laundered Jeffrey Epstein.
Sources & Documents
- Schedules — Slayton apartment stays: "Bobby Slayton in NY Sept 6-8, Apt 10B" (Sep 2012); "Bobby Slayton to stay in Sept. 7-10" (Sep 2014). Search →
- EFTA02213817 — Pizza delivery to Slayton at apt 301. View →
- EFTA02580567 — Groff to Slayton: "Jeffrey would like you to invite Chris Rock." View →
- EFTA02358879 — "Soon Yi said no prob on inviting Chris Rock." View →
- EFTA02579689 — Slayton asks about Lewis Black vs. Chris Rock, noting "he is not sure if Woody is a fan." View →
- Multiple schedule documents — David Blaine appears in 19+ schedule entries 2012-2016. Search →
- EFTA02394900 — "Scott is working on editing your Bill Gates/David Blaine video." Dossier entry, Mar 20, 2013.
- EFTA02117954 — "If Ariane comes tonight along with Reid, have David Blaine come around 9pm?" Dossier entry, Jan 8, 2014.
- EFTA02674762 — David Blaine O-1 visa letter listing performances for Gates, Clinton, Bush, Kissinger. View →
- EFTA00001908 — Epstein handwritten contact list: "Reid | Thiel | Geffen | Zuckerm | Blaine | Summer-Eld." Dossier entry, DataSet 1.
- Dossier entries — Dick Cavett at multiple Allen dinners: Feb 2012, Jan 2013, Oct 2017.
- EFTA02332640 — "Barry Diller would like to take a hike on the island. Please organize." View →
- EFTA02559205 — "Bill Gates & wife and Barry Diller & Diane v F 2 rows in front of me." Olympics 2012. Dossier entry.
- Dossier entries (NUCLEAR) — "gates would like to meet with DAviD geffen. ideas?" Epstein brokering Gates-Geffen relationship.
- Dossier entry — Epstein investor list: "reid hoffman, andreeson, sinofsky, pritsker?, ovitz? merkin? milken? nathan?, j.j. abrahms." Nov 2013.
- EFTA00880830 — Epstein to Mandelson re DiCaprio endorsements: "cars etc, he is looking for non-u.s. products to endorse." View →
- HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030806 — Epstein to Nikolic: "I can find out if mick jagger, ken starr, clinton, julie taymor, are in town... I will have no trouble getting anyone you want." View →
- EFTA02437356 — "Just received this text from Naomi Campbell: Hello sarah is JE able to speak?" View →
- EFTA02487746 — Groff: "has not answered my email or returned my call re could she come and see you." View →
- HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_007913 — Flight log: Clinton, Band, 3 Secret Service, Naomi Campbell — UK return. Dossier entry.
- EFTA02333875 — Clinton to Maxwell: "But what does it say about naomi?" Dossier entry (NUCLEAR).
- EFTA01924576 — "Reminder: Possible Dinner Party Mon. May 19th?" Full guest list. View →
