Convicted socialite Ghislaine Maxwell said in a new interview that meeting Jeffrey Epstein “was the greatest mistake of my life” and that if she could turn back the clock, she would “avoid meeting him” and “make different choices.”
Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for assisting the late billionaire financier sexually abuse underage girls, told The Sun from a Florida prison that she resented the fact she is now viewed as a “Wicked Witch” across the world.
“I said in my court statement that meeting Epstein was the greatest mistake of my life,” she said. “And obviously, if I could go back today, I would avoid meeting him, and I would make different choices.”
Maxwell told the tabloid that the portrayal of her in the media is unfair.
“This is a fictional version of me. It has been created to fit the storyline. It has absolutely nothing to do with who I am,” she said. “I find it curious that so many people choose to contribute to the fake, created version, sort of like a Disney character, the Wicked Witch, if you will. The real people who know me and still love me have never spoken” out.
Maxwell was convicted last year on charges of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts and on two conspiracy counts.
The British socialite was found guilty of helping Epstein, her longtime companion, recruit and abuse girls as young as 14 years old for more than a decade. Epstein took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell was sentenced in June and expressed regret in the courtroom when she had a chance to speak for herself.
In the interview with The Sun, Maxwell also said she feels “so bad” Prince Andrew, who was accused of sexually abusing Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager. A lawsuit filed by Giuffre against the British royal was settled out of court earlier this year.
“There are many people who have been impacted by this story,” she said in the interview. “Friends of mine who never even met Epstein lost their jobs. People who literally had nothing to do with him whatsoever have been cancelled.”
“For all those people,” Maxwell said, “ I think it’s been a very heavy price that has been paid by the cancel culture. It’s been very difficult for a lot of people.”