Who is Tina Brown? Founding editor in chief of Daily Beast recalls invitation to Jeffrey Epstein’s “predator’s ball”

Tina Brown, one of the most well-known editors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, has been making news again this week with a memorable anecdote about getting invited to what she jokingly refers to as Jeffrey Epstein’s “Predator’s Ball.”

The account, which Brown recently shared while discussing her early reporting into Epstein, offers yet new insights into how some in the media industry had regarded the financier after his 2008 conviction.

Brown, a journalist, biographer and the founding editor in chief of The Daily Beast, has helped define modern magazine journalism for generations. She first made a name for herself as the editor in chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair and then The New Yorker, where she hired and mentored major talents.

Here is Tina Brown -- former editor of Vanity Fair and New Yorker -- explaining why nobody in the mega-elite cared that Jeffrey Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution.

The only real crime in that circle, she says, is poverty. pic.twitter.com/mxDLkKZs00

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 15, 2025

Critics believe that she changed editorial styles and helped set the tone for a new era of glossy magazine culture. Famed for her instincts and also her ability to weave political reporting with celebrity-driven narratives, Brown became a giant force in New York.

Her tenure at The Daily Beast left her more closely associated with Epstein's case. When Epstein was convicted in 2008 for soliciting a minor, her newsroom had published early reporting on his activity, reporting what she said hardly got any notice at the time.

Jeffrey Epstein was still not the household name he would be years later, Brown said. To many, he was just another rich guy mingling among New York’s elite.

Tina Brown received a dinner invitation to Jeffrey Epstein’s home

Tina Brown got a post-conviction dinner invitation to Epstein’s Manhattan home. The suggested list of invitees, she said, included Charlie Rose, Woody Allen and Prince Andrew, three public figures whose careers would soon enough be marred by their own controversies.

Brown recalled questioning the invite in disbelief, loudly rejecting the offer and asking “What the hell is this—the Predator’s Ball?” The phrase, which was borrowed from the title of a 1988 book about aggressive Wall Street deal makers, captured the unsettling nature of the proposed meeting.

"I've printed pieces about this guy. No, thank you very much. I decline. I don't want to have dinner at Jeffrey Epstein's house," she told The New York Times.

Jeffrey Epstein’s trail of slime sticks to everyone who ever crossed his path. My Fresh Hell Substack take on why Trump doesn’t stand a chance of killing the Epstein story.https://t.co/cq8maRxotq pic.twitter.com/P6eU8jsCb7

— Tina Brown (@TinaBrownLM) November 17, 2025

In recent interviews, Tina Brown has also discussed her encounters with Ghislaine Maxwell, and said that while she knew Maxwell socially, she did not realize the extent of her relationship with Epstein.

Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking minors to Epstein, was someone Brown came to see as mired in the world of the financier’s influence, someone, Brown said, "was mad about him” and complicit in his use of young girls.

"I think with Epstein, she was mad about him. And the only way she felt she could get into his good graces was to participate in — and in the end, curate — his abuse of young women," Tina Brown said in a statement.

Beyond this episode, Tina Brown’s career has been one of reinvention and longevity. She proved to be an adept player in the digital news space after leaving print with the founding of The Daily Beast in 2008.

She is also the founder of Women in the World, a powerful global platform dedicated to raising awareness and creating opportunities for women around the world. Her bestselling books, podcasts and most recently her Substack newsletter continue to display her distinctive blend of cultural insight and insider perspective.