Former Real Housewives of New York star Carole Radziwill is finally speaking out about her past friendship with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell after her name resurfaced in newly released files connected to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking to The New York Times, she said she was stunned by what later came to light about Maxwell.
“Imagine knowing someone … and then they turn out to be, like, a monster,” Radziwill said. “I was friends with her in the early 2000s, I don’t know, like, for five or six years.”
Radziwill said Maxwell was intelligent and well-liked within their social circle, which made the revelations even more difficult to process.
“The thing about her that made it easy for me to spend any time with her at all was that she was very intelligent, she was educated,” she said. “If you lined up 10 women, and you asked, like, pick the woman who would be involved in an international sex trafficking ring, it would not be her.”
Radziwill said her connection to Epstein came only through Maxwell and that she did recall attending a party at Maxwell’s home where Epstein was present, but said, “I never knew Jeffrey Epstein.”
Maxwell even photographed the author’s portrait for Radziwill’s 2005 memoir, What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love. Despite her distancing herself, Radziwill knows that people will continue to judge her for their past friendship.
“You’re going to be misunderstood, and it’s OK,” she said. “Once you’re there, it’s, like, a peaceful feeling.”
Radziwill joined The Real Housewives of New York City in season five in 2012. A former journalist and bestselling author, she often found herself in the middle of major drama with stars like Bethenny Frankel, Aviva Drescher and Luann de Lesseps. Radziwill remained on the show for six seasons before leaving in 2018 after her friendship with Bethenny unraveled during season 10.