On February 19, 2022, Jean Luc Brunel, a former French model scout and friend of Jeffrey Epstein, was discovered dead in the Le Sante Prison. He was found hanging inside his cell after allegedly committing himself to jail. The former Karin Models CEO was arrested in December 2020 on suspicion of having a link to Epstein and being involved in the latter’s trafficking scandal. Brunel was jailed in Le Sante Prison while awaiting trial for suspected assault and harassment of a child, despite many protests. However, he recently committed himself by hanging himself. According to sources close to the investigation, his corpse was discovered during a routine prison patrol:
“At about 1 a.m., a night patrol discovered his dead corpse. A judicial investigation has been initiated, and preliminary evidence leads to suicide.”
According to sources, Brunel was presumably in a single-occupancy cell and had not met any other convicts before his death. He had no health issues and was not put on suicide watch:
“An investigation is underway to establish all of this, but for the time being, it seems that he killed himself alone, and his corpse was discovered hanging during a regular patrol.” There were no clear concerns about the prisoner’s health, and he was not on a suicide watch, despite having been in jail for many months.”
Two of these people died by “suicide” in a prison cell. #Epstein#JeanLucBrunel #GhislaineMaxwell pic.twitter.com/FCXW4N5eSY
— Angela.Kay (@RealAngelaKay) February 19, 2022
Meanwhile, Brunel’s lawyers claimed in a joint statement that the model scout committed himself after being “crushed” by the allegations:
“His anguish was that of a 75-year-old man crushed by a media-judicial system that it is past time to call into question.” Jean Luc Brunel has maintained his innocence. He increased his attempts to prove it. His choice to terminate his life was motivated not by remorse, but by a profound feeling of unfairness.”
According to sources, the 3rd Judicial Police District has begun an official inquiry into Jean Luc Brunel’s untimely death. An autopsy will be performed to ascertain the actual cause of death.
A look back at Jean Luc Brunel’s life.
Jean Luc Brunel was a model scout and manager of a modeling business in France. He was born in Paris in 1946 and started his modeling career in the 1970s. Brunel began as a modeling scout for Karin Mossberg’s firm Karin Models and rose to become the company’s president in 1978. Brunel and his brother Arnaud launched the Next Management Corporation in 1988, and the Next Management Company, a worldwide modeling agency, was founded in 1989 with Faith Kates. Karin Models of America was created in 1995, and Next Management Company was sold the following year.
In the 1980s, the model scout allegedly met former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who introduced him to her lover, multibillionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Brunel became close to Epstein and one of his “most frequent male colleagues.” Epstein also provided funds to Jean Luc Brunel’s new modeling firm, MC2 Model Management, in 2004. In the early 2000s, the latter relocated to the United States and rebranded Karin Models U.S. as MC2 Model Management, establishing offices in New York and Miami in 2005. Brunel is said to have contributed to establishing The Identity Models in New York City and 1Mother Agency in Ukraine. However, on September 27, 2019, a few days following Epstein’s death, he disbanded MC2.
What was the reason behind Jean Luc Brunel’s arrest?
Jean Luc Brunel was the victim of sexual abuse allegations throughout his career. In 1987, he was involved in a seven-month investigation for CBS’ 60 Minutes. For the piece, many models who worked with the scout were interviewed. Many accused Brunel of promoting a hostile working atmosphere, with model Courtney Soerensen making direct accusations against the CEO during one episode. Brunel allegedly made unwanted approaches toward the model when she was 19 years old in 1988, according to the model.
Brunel refuted all charges against him on 60 Minutes, but the accusations continued to pile up. After being featured in the BBC’s 1999 MacIntyre Undercover investigation on abuse in the fashion business, the modeling agency owner was allegedly barred from operating in Europe. In 2002, elite supermodel Karen Mulder made similar charges against Jean Luc Brunel while discussing misbehavior and manipulation in the fashion business. Nonetheless, he continued to dodge prosecution.
However, the former MC2 founder was called into question when Jeffrey Epstein was imprisoned for child abuse and running a female trafficking network. Virginia Giuffre, Epstein’s victim and the crucial witness, said in a 2015 statement that the billionaire boasted about having affairs with “over 1,000 of Brunel’s girls.”
Brunel strenuously denied his participation in the Epstein affair at the time:
“I categorically deny having undertaken any illegal conduct or violation while working as a scouter or model agency manager.”
Brunel’s name was discovered among those cited in Giuffre’s legal claim against Ghislaine Maxwell in 2019. According to the lawsuit, she was trafficked as a juvenile to numerous Epstein and Maxwell’s high-profile customers, including Brunel. At the same time, an article in The Guardian highlighted Dutch model Thysia Huisman accused Brunel of abusing her when she was 18 years old in 1991. Huisman also told The Daily Beast that she filed a complaint against Brunel, hoping more women would come forward with similar tales.
In the same story, another unidentified American model accused Brunel of abuse. She said he assaulted her in the mid-1980s outside of Paris when she was 20. Meanwhile, Jean Luc Brunel disappeared from public view when Epstein committed himself in jail by hanging himself in 2019. Shortly after, the French National Police initiated an inquiry against the model agency owner and raided his home on suspicion of complicity in the Epstein trafficking scandal.
Despite going into hiding, the 76-year-old was apprehended at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport on December 16, 2020, as he was ready to take a trip to Dakar, Senegal. He was detained pending an investigation for assault, trafficking, and criminal conspiracy. Jean Luc Brunel was formally charged in September 2021 with drugging and molesting a child model in the 1990s. He maintained his innocence and continued to reject all claims, but he was kept in Le Sante Jail throughout the investigation until his death by prison suicide on Saturday.
