Director of Melania Trump film exposed in Epstein files drop: report

Brett Ratner, the director of “Melania,” the new documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, was spotted in the Justice Department’s Friday release of thousands of files on Jeffrey Epstein, Vanity Fair reported late Friday.

Among the thousands of files released by the DOJ Friday, internet sleuths were quick to identify Ratner in an updated photograph with a shirtless man that appears to be Jean-Luc Brunel, a French model scout and owner of the international modeling agency MC2 Model Management, which has considerable financial backing from Epstein.

Brunel died by apparent suicide in 2022 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, as did Epstein in 2019.

Ratner made his directorial debut in the 1990s with the release of “Money Talks,” and went on to direct the popular “Rush Hour” films before being ousted from Hollywood in 2018 amid sexual misconduct allegations. While he moved to Israel in 2023, Ratner is now set to direct “Rush Hour 4” after the project was greenlit by Paramount, and after President Donald Trump “lobbied” for the studio to take up Ratner’s project.

Ratner was also selected to direct “Melania,” set for release in select-theaters on Jan. 30, 2026. The film was announced in January of 2025, an indication that Ratner was likely still held in high regard among the Trumps, further supported by Donald Trump’s push for Paramount to fund “Rush Hour 4” with Ratner at the helm.

Warner Bros. cut ties with Ratner in 2018 and decided not to renew a $450 million financing deal after several women accused him of sexual misconduct, including one woman who alleged Ratner had “forced her to perform oral sex.”