Filmmaker Brett Ratner is among the figures appearing in a new batch of documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
A photo made public on Friday, Dec. 19 shows Ratner — who is directing the upcoming Melania Trump documentary — posing closely with Jean-Luc Brunel, the late French model agent and longtime Epstein associate. In the image, Brunel is shirtless while Ratner, 56, hugs him in a dimly lit room. The DOJ release does not provide additional details such as when or where the photo was taken.
Brunel died by suicide in a Paris jail cell in 2022 while facing allegations that included the rape of a minor.
Years earlier, Virginia Giuffre — one of the most prominent accusers connected to Epstein — had named Brunel in legal filings in New York and France. She alleged at the time that she was forced to have sex with Brunel multiple times while she was still a minor.
Ratner himself has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct from several women, including Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. He has also been accused of outing Elliot Page when Page was 18.
The film MELANIA will be Ratner’s first directing credit since Hercules (2014). In the years since, he has worked as a producer on projects including The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017) and Georgetown (2019). Ratner is best known for directing Rush Hour and its sequels, as well as The Family Man, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist.
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In November 2017, Ratner said he was “choosing to personally step away from all Warner Bros.-related activities” following a Los Angeles Times report detailing allegations against him. Variety later reported that Warner Bros. would not renew Ratner’s RatPac production company’s $450 million first-look deal. Ratner has denied the allegations.
DOJ Release Details
The DOJ published thousands of files on Friday, one month after President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which requires the department to make documents tied to the investigation publicly available and searchable.
According to the DOJ, the release was organized into five data sets totaling roughly 3,900 files. The material includes a broad mix of items, ranging from photos and documents to a scanned copy of Massage for Dummies, a fully redacted 119-page grand jury filing, and a police report in which a young woman alleged Epstein threatened to burn down her house.
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The newly released images also include photos of Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Michael Jackson, and other prominent celebrities and political figures.
At least 16 files were later reportedly removed from the DOJ webpage, including a photograph of Trump, 79. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the removals were made to protect victims.
Epstein died in August 2019 at age 66. He was found hanging in a cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, where he was being held while awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
