The Epstein survivors speak
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Victoria Derbyshire speaks to survivors of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking.
The interview took place in Washington DC, two weeks before Melania Trump, US First Lady, gave an unexpected press conference at the White House where she called for congressional hearings for the Epstein survivors.
Millions of documents, emails and photographs are now in the public domain and show Epstein’s connections to high profile figures from politics, business and royalty.
In this interview, which some listeners may find upsetting, Chauntae Davies, Joanna Harrison, Jena-Lisa Jones, Wendy Pesante and Lisa Phillips share their experiences, and discuss the impact that the abuse has had on their lives.
Thank you to the Newsnight team for their help in making this programme.
If you’ve been affected by this programme, you can reach out to Befrienders Worldwide for help by visiting befrienders.org
The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Victoria Derbyshire Producers: Katherine Hodgson, Charlotte Sexton, Carys Nally and Ben Cooper Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | This is the BBC World Service. The following edition of The Interview with Survivors of Geoffrey Epstein |
| 0:11.8 | contains descriptions you may find upsetting from the outset. |
| 0:16.5 | Hello, I'm BBC presenter, Victoria Derbyshire, and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:22.8 | The best conversations coming out of the BBC. |
| 0:25.6 | People shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:29.7 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:34.4 | We have never seen a people so united. Do not make that boat crossing. |
| 0:39.5 | Do not make that journey. Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:44.7 | We're more popular than populism. For this interview, I met survivors of the late paedophile |
| 0:52.2 | Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019, |
| 0:57.2 | while awaiting trial for charges of sex trafficking. |
| 1:00.6 | I met the survivors in Washington, D.C., and our conversation took place just two weeks |
| 1:05.5 | before the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, gave an unexpected press conference at the White House, |
| 1:12.1 | during which she called for congressional hearings for survivors of Epstein's sex trafficking. |
| 1:17.7 | Her intervention comes amid a backdrop of the ongoing fallout from the release of the Epstein files |
| 1:22.8 | by the U.S. Department of Justice. Millions of documents, emails and photographs are now in the public domain |
| 1:29.4 | and show Epstein's connections to high-profile figures around the world, |
| 1:34.7 | across politics, business and royalty. |
| 1:38.0 | In this interview, which some listeners may find upsetting, |
| 1:42.0 | Epstein's survivors share their experiences |
| 1:44.0 | and discuss the impact |
... |
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