Virginia Giuffre, who put a face to the multitudes of women allegedly victimized by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, died by suicide on Thursday, April 24, family members confirm. She was 41.
Giuffre rose to global prominence in 2019, soon after Epstein was found dead in prison. According to Giuffre, when she was 15 and working at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Ghislaine Maxwell approached her as a masseuse for Epstein. Instead, Giuffre alleged, she was sexually abused by Maxwell and Epstein and trafficked to men around the world while under 18, including British royal Prince Andrew. Both men denied Giuffre’s allegations, but they also settled civil suits Giuffre brought against them: Epstein paying her $500,000 in 2009, and Andrew reaching a confidential agreement with her just days before the trial in the case was expected to begin. Neither faced criminal charges as a result of Giuffre’s accusations.
(L-R) Michelle Licata and Virginia Giuffre attend the 2019 Women’s Media Awards at Mandarin Oriental on October 22, 2019 in New York City.
Ben Gabbe/Getty Images
The repercussions of Giuffre’s claims against Andrew remain visible today. In an effort to repair his image, Andrew agreed to a 2019 interview with BBC’s Newsnight to discuss his relationship with Epstein and Giuffre’s allegations of abuse, but the interview backfired so badly that the royal was banished from much of royal life—and the interview, itself, was adapted into multiple dramatic properties.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia. She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,” a statement provided by a representative of Giuffre’s family reads.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors. Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright … She was heroic and will always be remembered for her incredible courage and loving spirit. In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight. We know that she is with the angels.”
It appears that Giuffre was facing some significant struggles in her final weeks. The BBC reports that she violated a legal order prohibiting her from making contact with her family in February; the following month, her publicist said that Giuffre had sustained serious injuries in a vehicle collision, but declined to provide additional details. A March post by Giuffre to social media suggested she only had a few days to live as a result of the crash, but local authorities could not confirm such a collision.
