EXCLUSIVE: Julie Taymor, the celebrated film and theater director, has denied any knowledge of helping arrange tickets to The Lion King musical for Jeffrey Epstein while he was serving time in a Florida jail.
Taymor told Deadline that she was unaware that a member of her staff had secured the child sex offender access to house seats for her hit Minskoff Theatre musical in 2009, despite the tickets being organized in her name.
A paper trail of The Lion King musical booking was released in the Epstein files, which revealed that Taymor was in email contact with Epstein and his assistants between April 2009 and September 2017, a period that followed his conviction for sex crimes. Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice showed that Taymor dined with Epstein and was involved in soliciting him for investment for a new theater in Brooklyn.
In written responses provided by her agent, Taymor told Deadline that her association with Epstein was “minimal, to say the least,” and that he never provided financial support for any of her theater and film projects. Taymor, who directed the Oscar-winning 2002 feature Frida and oversaw the Tony-winning adaptation of The Lion King, said she was unaware of the allegations against Epstein at the time of their interactions.
Emails from April 2009 appear to show that Taymor’s office helped Epstein secure two house tickets for The Lion King. Epstein was likely organizing the $243 tickets for an associate, given he was serving his jail sentence (albeit on a work-release program) on the night of the performance. He was released from Palm Beach County Jail in July 2009 after serving 13 months of his 18-month sentence.
Confirmation of the booking was published in the Epstein files. It showed that payment was made on a credit card belonging to Epstein and that the tickets were “arranged by” Taymor. The director told Deadline: “House seats are organized by my assistant and I am not aware of who is receiving house seats on any given performance.”
In October 2012, Taymor helped connect Epstein with Jeffrey Horowitz, who was establishing a new home for the Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) in Brooklyn, according to the DoJ files. At the time, Taymor was honorary co-chair of TFANA’s “capital campaign.”
Horowitz, TFANA’s founding artistic director, wrote to Epstein explaining that the theater was raising $68.5M and was looking for partners to contribute a shortfall of $16M, with potential naming rights up for grabs. “It would be a wonderful opportunity for the right individual,” Horowitz said.
Horowitz and Epstein spoke on November 6, 2012, during which the sex offender apparently suggested naming the Brooklyn venue after Taymor. “Regarding your idea of naming gifts, it would be sensational to name this building in honor of Julie,” Horowitz wrote.
Taymor emailed Epstein’s office a month later: “I know Jeff Horowitz has been in touch with Jeffrey Epstein, who kindly said he would visit Theatre for a New Audience’s new building in Brooklyn. Can you please let Mr. Epstein know that I very much appreciate this?”
The TFANA was eventually named the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in 2013 after a $10M gift from The Polonsky Foundation. Taymor said she was not aware of any financial contribution from Epstein. Deadline has approached Horowitz for comment. There is no suggestion that he was aware of the allegations against Epstein.
In September 2017, Taymor and Epstein bumped into each other on the sidewalk in New York, which resulted in Epstein inviting her to dinner. She attended the “small and private” meal, with Woody Allen also invited as a guest. The next day, Taymor sent Epstein a trailer for her M. Butterfly show at the James Earl Jones Theatre. “Call for house seats,” she wrote, passing on contact details for a member of her team. “Thanks again for dinner.”
The Epstein files also revealed that Taymor was in contact with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 regarding a reception in Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal’s honor, hosted by Bob Balaban and Robert Altman. Taymor said she had “very little interaction” with Maxwell and had “no idea about her criminal activities.”
There are also claims within other emails about how Epstein “bragged about being good friends with Julie Taymor.” In an email to one associate in 2016, Epstein recalled that Julie “had a rough time” with Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the troubled Broadway musical.
Taymor said: “I was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein when I was a speaker at the 1998 TED Conference. He was introduced to me by journalist Peter Jennings as a philanthropist and investor. My association with Epstein was minimal, to say the least, and had to do with my interest in him financially supporting my theatre and film projects. He never did provide any financial support for any projects.”
Taymor is far from the only entertainment industry figure named in the Epstein files. Brett Ratner, director of Amazon MGM Studios documentary Melania, has denied having a relationship with Epstein after being pictured in the files with the financier. LA 2028 Olympics boss Casey Wasserman said he was “terribly sorry” for his correspondence with Maxwell (including expressing a desire to see her in a “tight leather outfit”), which he said took place “long before her horrific crimes came to light.”
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