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Jeffrey Epstein asked an unidentified woman to buy a Snow White costume just weeks before he and former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley had an infamous exchange in which they discussed the Disney character.
“I would love to take photos of you in a Snow White costume. You can get it from the costume store,” Epstein wrote to the woman on June 20 2010, according to newly released documents from the US Department of Justice, to which she replied: “Will get it!”
The exchange happened three weeks before Staley sent Epstein an email on July 10 saying, “that was fun. Say hi to Snow White”, in what has become one of the most controversial communications between the two men over a years-long relationship that the banker has insisted was professional.
Epstein also received a message from what appears to be a second woman, whom the Financial Times has chosen not to name, dated on the same day, saying: “The snow white was f. ed twice as soon as she put her costume.”
There is no information in the emails about the ages of the women.
Staley said in 2025 that he had not been aware of Epstein’s “monstrous activities” during the period he maintained a relationship with him. The new emails make no mention of Staley, nor is he listed as a recipient.
The correspondence also does not explicitly state that the mentions of “Snow White” are all referring to the same person.
Staley stepped down as chief executive of Barclays in 2021 after an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority over his relationship with the disgraced financier. Barclays had sought to reassure the regulator that Staley did not have a close relationship with Epstein in a letter that was found to be misleading.
The American investment banker last year sought to overturn in court a lifetime ban imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority, which barred him from holding any senior management roles in the financial services industry over his ties to Epstein.
During the court proceedings, Staley was asked whether he remembered referring to any of the women that were accompanying Epstein as Disney characters or princesses or specific individuals as “Snow White”. The former Barclays chief said: “No.”
“I honest to God, when I went through the emails I have no idea what this refers to. I have no idea who Snow White is,” he said during testimony in court.
Staley failed to overturn the FCA ban, with the presiding judge holding that he had acted “without integrity” by approving a letter from the bank to the regulator that said Staley did not have a close relationship with Epstein.
The new trove of emails shows a number of exchanges between Epstein and the woman the FT has chosen not to name, some of which contain descriptions of girls and young women.
“Milan could be interesting as well. Girls are hungry there,” the woman wrote to Epstein in April 2010. “May be we pick one girl from all the girls i ve seen tostart with? I will make snaps and videos tmw. . . ”
In another email from September of that year, she describes a woman she refers to as “the second — 21”, saying: “Discrete, not stupid but not too smart . . . stubborn, wants to study acting, looked a bit lost, no goals in life, was late for one hour, rents a room in east village, doesn’t like to go to places where all models go.”
A lawyer for Staley did not immediately provide a comment.
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