One of the more perverse aspects of the Jeffrey Epstein story is how the predator’s power flowed from a man who made his fortune selling lingerie to generations of women and teens in malls across America. Epstein’s emetic symbiosis with his chief benefactor, Leslie Wexner — known as the “Merlin of the Mall” because at one point his company owned Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Express, and Bath & Body Works — is explored in Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons, a three-part docuseries out July 14 on Hulu. (This after that other Epstein confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced on Tuesday to 20 years in prison.)
“Turning a blind eye is a very key phrase with this series,” says director Matt Tyrnauer. Epstein had been introduced to Wexner in the mid-1980s by an insurance executive and soon became money manager to the mall magnate at a time when his company (then called the Limited, later renamed L Brands) was riding high. The documentary shows how Epstein was given full power of attorney, replaced Wexner’s mother on the board of the Wexner foundation, and even shacked up in a house on the property of Wexner’s Xanadu in Ohio. Epstein’s money, Upper East Side mansion, and even the Lolita Express — originally a Boeing 727 owned by L Brands — would all come from Wexner.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/how-leslie-wexner-helped-create-jeffrey-epstein.html