Gigi Hadid is finally breaking her silence on a matter that's been weighing on her mind. The supermodel has spoken out about the Jeffrey Epstein-related files recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in which she is mentioned by name. In a December 2015 email exchange included in the documents viewed by E! News, a redacted individual asked the disgraced financier about Gigi and her sister Bella Hadid's professional success, writing, "How did the Hadid sisters become models and make so much money?! I don't understand..." After Epstein replied, "You know," the individual wrote back, "The father paid the agency," to which the late sex offender simply responded, "No." Later in the exchange, he added, "Because they follow directions, it's that simple."
When a social media user commented on Hadid's March 29 Instagram post that they "had to unfollow" her because she "ain't talk bout those files," she replied that the documents "made me sick to my stomach." "It's horrible to read someone you've never met speak about you that way. Especially in this context," she explained in her March 30 message. "I didn't comment because I didn't want to take away from the stories of real victims of his; but your comment made me realize maybe it's not clear—and it's important to let you know."
Hadid, who shares daughter Khai, 5, with ex Zayn Malik, explained that while she "grew up privileged," her parents Mohammed Hadid and Yolanda Hadid "protected me and taught me the value of hard work." She noted that after signing with a modeling agency in 2012, "I've worked hard every moment since."
"To be named in those files, I think I was 20-21 at the time he would have written that email—it's disturbing," she said in closing. "And I want to state unequivocally that I have never had any affiliation with that disgusting human being."
Epstein, who previously took a plea deal on charges of procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, was arrested in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He died by suicide in prison weeks later.
