Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend reveals how he manipulated women for power and control

In a rare public account, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Patricia Schmidt has offered a detailed glimpse into her relationship with the late financier, describing how he used intimacy and emotional manipulation to maintain control and extract social and professional advantage.

Schmidt, who was 23 and working at Bear Stearns when she first met Epstein in 1987, shared excerpts from her personal diaries with The New York Times Magazine and spoke publicly for the first time about their time together. The diary entries chronicle their interactions throughout the late 1980s, revealing a relationship marked by power imbalances, deception, and psychological control.

According to Schmidt, Epstein frequently lied, including to his longtime girlfriend Eva Andersson, and placed Schmidt in uncomfortable situations to assert dominance and reinforce her lower status in his life. She recalled moments that felt like deliberate power plays, designed to remind her that he was in control and that she was replaceable.

The diaries also describe how Epstein alternated between physical intimacy and emotional distance, behavior Schmidt later recognized as manipulative. In one instance, she wrote about feeling guilty after mentioning that another man was interested in her—an exchange that ended with Schmidt blaming herself, despite Epstein’s dismissive and controlling response.

Taken together, Schmidt’s account illustrates how Epstein leveraged relationships “for connections, for money and for social capital,” leaving her—and others—questioning their own worth while he maintained the upper hand.