The Epstein files and photos are hogging the headlines right now, as those who appear in them try to justify their actions, including film director Brett Ratner.
From the grave, Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous s*x offender and financier, is catching out many people who have had links with him and his past. However, some have an excuse. In the case of Brett Ratner, the film director responsible for the documentary Melania, he denies any connection to the financier who also procured minor girls for himself and his rich friends.
This comes as a photo of him has surfaced with the pedophile among the new documents released from the Epstein files. What makes it worse for Ratner is the two unidentified and redacted women who appear in the photo with him and Epstein.
‘That’s a picture of me and my fiancé… I never saw Epstein again.’
Melania director Brett Ratner speaks out for the first time since a photograph of him was released in the Epstein Files.
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@piersmorgan | @BrettRatner pic.twitter.com/aC5I4mPArU
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) February 2, 2026
However, Ratner denies any wrongdoing, as he tells the Independent that he attended the financier’s party with his girlfriend at the time, at her invitation.
“About 20 years ago, I had a girlfriend, I was in love with her, we were engaged, she was my fiancé, we went to an event and we were sitting on the couch and the photo was taken at that event.”
According to the Guardian, the film director stressed that he had no personal relationship with Epstein, and that he didn’t know him, nor does he recall when the photo was taken.
“I didn’t have a personal relationship with him, I didn’t know him. And that’s where the picture was taken. I didn’t even remember. Because I’d been asked in the past ‘Do you know him?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t think so’ because I didn’t have a personal relationship with him.”
Brett Ratner with Epstein and a teenage girl.
Brett Ratner with our First Lady at the premiere of the Melania movie, which he directed. pic.twitter.com/FPh8HbGvo5
— Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) January 31, 2026
However, Ratner did share that one of the women in the photo was his then-fiancé, saying, “My fiancé invited me to that event,” he said. “At the time, the girl in the picture is my fiancé. And that’s it. You get thrown into these things, it’s crazy, it’s horrible.”
“I have never been in contact with Jeffrey Epstein before that photo, and I was never in contact with him after,” Ratner added.
The film director’s name also surfaced in several emails from the latest released files. In them, Epstein discusses his attempts to connect with Ratner and gave descriptions in which of their social circles overlap. Meanwhile, in December, Ratner’s photo appeared in an earlier batch of files that were released.
It should be noted that the photo in question does not indicate any wrongdoing by Ratner, who is currently having a resurgence in his film directing career. He recently directed the documentary, Melania, about First Lady Melania Trump.
The documentary is having mixed reviews and reveals the 20 days prior to the 2025 presidential inauguration. The film navigates the complexities of the White House transition as Melania Trump prepares for her role of First Lady again to US president Donald Trump.
