Photographer's Epstein Encounter: Unpaid Bill & Intimidation

0:00On April 9th, photographer Christopher Anderson wasn't shocked to see his name pop up in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Back in 2015, New York Magazine sent him to snap pics of the financier for a profile that never ran. Anderson had no clue about Epstein's dark past, like his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor or that 13-month jail-sten in Florida. He just knew the guy was loaded and linked to big shots. Epstein pushed for a pre-shoot meetup, trying to buy the photos for $20,000 of front. The session went down at Epstein's creepy New York pad, complete with a stuffed tiger and some odd vibes, like a young woman folding up a massage, table. When the article tanked, Epstein's team hounded Anderson for the images through emails that ended up in those millions of released pages. Anderson recalls a mafia-style intimidation when Epstein sent a huge guy named Merwin with massive black leather gloves to grab a hard drive from, his studio. It all felt unnerving, like Epstein was flexing his power to make sure nothing slipped down.

1:03Fast forward, Anderson dug up backup copies on another drive, including one shot showing a desk email about a $60,000 unpaid staff bill. Tied to Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, they might have been asking Epstein to cover it. These picks now anchor a chapter in his new book, Index. Anderson's career spans gritty spots like a sinking Haitian refugee boat that won him a top award, Warzone's post-9-11, and lately Celeb. Portraits plus Trump's White House crew. He sees it as his duty to capture the raw truth of the moment, no matter the heat.