Jeff Koons Attended Dinner Party at Jeffrey Epstein’s House
The artist confirmed to Hyperallergic that he was present at a 2013 dinner but said that he “did not have a relationship with Epstein” beyond that event.
Artist Jeff Koons attended a dinner party organized by Jeffrey Epstein in 2013, years after the financier was first convicted of soliciting sex from a minor, according to emails released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) last week.
In 2013, Epstein specifically requested that Koons attend a September 4 dinner party at his Upper East Side residence, an invitation Koons and his wife accepted via email. According to correspondences released by the DOJ last week, the dinner's guest list also included director Woody Allen and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Neil Gershenfeld. In an August 30 email, Epstein told his former personal assistant Lesley Groff that he had asked Gershenfeld, who collaborated with Koons on the sculpture "Liberty Bell" (2006–14), to invite the contemporary artist.
In a statement to Hyperallergic sent through his gallery, Gagosian, Koons confirmed that he attended the party.
“Upon the invitation of a professor at MIT, Neil Gershenfeld, my wife Justine and I attended a dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house," Koons said. "Beyond attending the dinner, I did not have a relationship with Epstein."
At the time of the dinner party, Epstein had already served 18 months in jail after pleading guilty in 2008 to charges including soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida. Epstein made a plea deal with United States prosecutors that gave him immunity from federal charges, which became public information in 2009. By 2012, the financier had reportedly turned to philanthropy to counter "bad press" about his sexual crimes.
Last week's released documents include other emails in which Epstein and affiliates make references to the dinner attended by Koons. Relaying information from Epstein to an individual whose name is redacted, Groff wrote in one message that a "girl," whose name is blacked out in the documents, was also expected at the party.
"Jeffrey wants to make sure you know there is a dinner being planned for Sept. 4th," Groff wrote in the email, sent on August 30, 2013. "Woody Allen is coming, this girl [redacted]...we are flying in Neil Gershenfeld from Boston..and as you see below, JE asked Neil to invite Jeff Koons... I do not know who else is going yet..."
In another email chain about the dinner party, Epstein and Groff discussed a woman whose name is also redacted.
“OK to email her and ask her to come for an interview?” Groff asked Epstein.
Epstein replied: “No interview. She is coming for dinner with Woody and Leon. I also asked Neil to invite Jeff Koons.” (Epstein is likely referring to billionaire financier and Museum of Modern Art trustee Leon Black, who made payments of over $150 million to Epstein. Black has denied any wrongdoing related to his association with Epstein.)
On September 3, a day before the dinner, an individual apparently working for Epstein told a recipient whose name is redacted to learn more about Koons ahead of the party.
"Jeffrey wanted me to let you know Jeff Koons will be coming to the dinner on WEd. night along with his wife, Justine. Jeffrey thought you could ‘Google’ him before coming," the apparent Epstein affiliate wrote.
The redacted recipient replied that they had just arrived in New York, apparently from a foreign country.
“Thank you so much for your letters, dear [redacted]! I will certainly Google to get to know more about Mr.Koons!” the individual responded. “I've just arrived to NY this afternoon and I still don't have a new phone card to use in states. I have only my [redacted] number. But anyway, tomorrow I will get in downtown to present myself at school office and I will try to get my new phone number so that I could let you know it.”
Three days after the dinner party, Epstein told Allen's wife, Soon-Yi Previn, that he would like to visit Koons's studio. In emails, Epstein discussed plans to stop by with Woody Allen on November 8 that year.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, Koons denied that the visit took place. "To the knowledge of myself and my staff, Epstein never visited my studio,” Koons said.
However, an email apparently containing Epstein’s November 8 schedule, sent that same morning, referenced a plan to "go see Jeff Koons studio" at 2 pm. Another message Epstein received a year later from a redacted contact references a visit to Koons’s studio: “Rudy Ovchinnikova is back in town! Going to her bday tonight! Remember she came with us to Jeff Koons studio?”
Though the fact that Epstein tried to visit Koons’s studio was included in an investigation from the Wall Street Journal in 2023, the revelation that the artist attended a dinner at the convicted sex offender’s home years after his conviction had not been previously reported.
The new information comes from the most recent tranche of so-called “Epstein files,” some 3 million additional documents published on Friday, January 30, over a month after the missed deadline set by Congress. The batch of files initially exposed the identities of dozens of Epstein’s victims, including minors, prompting outcry from survivors and advocates.
