Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an Epstein accuser, alleged in a 2014 court filing that the system was a cover for sex trafficking.[5] In court documents released in August 2019, Giuffre named Brunel as one of the men Maxwell had directed her as a teenager to have sex with.[13]
In 2019, it was reported that Brunel helped create The Identity Models in New York City and 1Mother Agency in Kyiv, Ukraine.[14] MC2 was dissolved on 27 September 2019.[3]
Rape accusations
Brunel was the subject of a seven-month investigation by CBS producer Craig Pyes and reporter Diane Sawyer for 60 Minutes. The investigative segment "American Models in Paris," which aired on 23 December 1988, covered the conduct of Brunel and fellow Parisian modeling agent Claude Haddad.[15] Several American models who worked with Brunel were interviewed by 60 Minutes and described their experiences of the culture Brunel fostered where the models were routinely drugged and sexually abused.[16] Eileen Ford (of the New York-based Ford Modeling Agency) had sent her models to Brunel for Paris assignments and was interviewed for the program where she claimed no prior knowledge of the multiple complaints from models of sexual exploitation and drug abuse by Brunel.[15] He denied the claims, but Ford ultimately severed ties with him following the broadcast.[15] Michael Gross reported in Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women that Brunel had admitted to using cocaine for years.[15] Brunel defended his use by stating that he did not have a drug problem since he refrained from using cocaine during the day.[15]
In 2002, Brunel was again associated with abuse after Elite supermodel Karen Mulder described to the French press the culture of sexual misconduct and manipulation prevalent in the modeling industry.[3] Brunel did not face criminal charges.
Virginia Giuffre accused Brunel of having sexually trafficked girls for Epstein. Giuffre claimed in a 2015 affidavit that Epstein bragged to her that he had “slept with over 1,000 of Brunel’s girls.”[17] Brunel responded by denying involvement in any illegal activities with Epstein, saying, "I strongly deny having committed any illicit act or any wrongdoing in the course of my work as a scouter or model agencies manager." From 1998 to 2005, Brunel was listed as a passenger in flight logs for Epstein's private plane on 25 trips.[3] He was also a regular visitor to the jail where Epstein was held in 2008, with at least 70 recorded visits.[4]
Brunel sued Epstein in 2015, claiming that he and MC2 had "lost multiple contacts and business in the modelling business as a result of Epstein’s illegal actions."[5][18] He also alleged that Epstein had obstructed justice by directing Brunel to avoid having his deposition taken in the criminal case against Epstein by the Palm Beach Police Department.[18] The lawsuit was later dismissed.
Brunel was last seen in public at the Paris Country Club on 5 July 2019.[19] Following Epstein's death in August 2019, Brunel went into hiding; shortly thereafter, the French National Police launched an investigation into him.[17] In September 2019, his Paris home and offices were searched by French investigators as part of a probe into sex trafficking by Epstein.[20]
On 16 December 2020, Brunel was intercepted by police at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, as he was about to board a flight to Dakar. He was then placed under 'garde à vue' custody for questioning in relation to rape, sexual assault, criminal conspiracy, and human trafficking, with all of the allegations involving minors.[21][22]
Having spent several months remanded in custody for the aforementioned charges, Brunel was formally indicted in September 2021 on a single count of rape. The indictment stemmed from an allegation that Brunel drugged a 17-year-old model at a nightclub and raped her in the 1990s.[23] Brunel said he was innocent.[24] His victims had been waiting a long time for his arrest.[3]
Found dead in his jail cell.