Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, the one-time girlfriend and confidant of infamous child abuser Jeffrey Epstein, told a filmmaker that the support of men including Donald Trump and Prince Andrew gave her a "big boost" in prison.
Maxwell was convicted in June and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for recruiting and grooming girls that were raped by Epstein and, allegedly, other men.
Filmmaker Daphne Barack visited the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and the Tallahassee Federal Correction Institute to speak with Maxwell. The resulting exchanges were published in The Daily Mail.
Maxwell told Ms Barack that she was thrilled to receive the well wishes of the former US president.
"I was very touched that he would remember me and that he would wish me well," Maxwell said in the interview. "And I was very touched by his remembrance of me."
Shortly after Maxwell was arrested in 2020, Mr Trump offered some sympathy for Maxwell.
"I haven’t really been following it too much," he said, according to The New York Times. "I just wish her well, frankly."
He admitted that he knew her, particularly from his days living in Palm Beach, Florida. His comments suggest he did not know what she was facing, despite her criminal prosecution being a major news cycle at the time of her arrest.
"But I wish her well, whatever it is," he said.
Maxwell also described Prince Andrew as a "dear friend."
Virginia Guiffre, a woman who claims Maxwell and Epstein trafficked her to Prince Andrew, alleged the royal sexually assaulted her while she was under age.
She sued the prince, but the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum out of court in February.
"I care about him, and I feel so bad for him," Maxwell said, noting that he is "paying such a price" for his friendship with Epstein.
Maxwell’s words suggest she still has a fondness for Prince Andrew despite an interview he gave in 2019 in which he pinned the entire sex trafficking operation on her.
"Remember it was his girlfriend that was the key element in this. [Epstein] was the, as it were, plus one," Prince Andrew said during the Panorama interview.
Mr Trump, Prince Andrew, former President Bill Clinton, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates have all been photographed with either Maxwell, Epstein, or both. Mr Musk said that Maxwell “photo bombed” him at a Vanity Fair party and that he does not know her.
"We had lots in common," Maxwell said of her and Mr Clinton. "I feel bad that he is another victim, only because of his association with Jeffrey. I understand that he, like others, can no longer consider me as a friend."
During her interview with Ms Barack, Maxwell lamented that friends who knew her and Epstein have faced consequences for those relationships.
"There are many people who have been impacted by this story who have been cancelled, some friends of mine who never even met Epstein lost their jobs," she said. "People who literally had nothing to do with him whatsoever have been cancelled."
She then blamed "cancel culture" for the "heavy price" that associated have had to pay for knowing the pair.
Maxwell’s attorneys plan to appeal her conviction.
