Jeffrey Epstein 'approached Peter Mandelson about advertising jobs for Leonardo DiCaprio, saying the actor wanted to "make some money" outside US'
Jeffrey Epstein approached Peter Mandelson about advertising jobs for Leonardo DiCaprio, according to the latest tranche of files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday.
In a June 2009 email sent to the Labour peer, who was business secretary at the time, Epstein wrote: 'Can you think of anyone in India china, japan„ etc, that might want the endorsement of Leonardo DiCaprio„ russia etc.. cars etc„ he is looking for non-u.s. products to endorse to make some momey [sic].'
Furious MPs on all sides had called for 'immediate' legislation to remove his title and prevent him from ever entering Parliament again, after the peer was found to have deeper links with disgraced financier Epstein. He has since announced that he will step down from the upper chamber.
Newly released files appear to show that Lord Mandelson leaked sensitive UK government information to the convicted sex offender, while emails suggest Epstein sent thousands of pounds to the peer's husband.
Keir Starmer previously said the 72-year-old should no longer be a member of the House of Lords and called on the upper chamber to adapt its disciplinary procedures to allow peers to be stripped of their titles, as police review reports of alleged misconduct in public office.
An accuser of Epstein claimed in a deposition that the financier enjoyed boasting about his close relationship with movie stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett, but that these statements appeared to come across as spurious and nothing more than exaggerated bluster.
A lawyer asked Johanna Sjoberg in the deposition: 'I saw one press report that said you had met Cate Blanchett or Leonardo DiCaprio?'
'I did not meet them, no,' she replied. 'When I spoke about them, it was when I was massaging him [Epstein], and he would get off – he would be on the phone a lot at that time, and one time he said: "Oh, that was Leonardo," or, "That was Cate Blanchett, or Bruce Willis." That kind of thing.'
A representative of Leonardo DiCaprio has previously denied any calls between him and the convicted sex offender. Pictured above in London in September, 2025
Jeffrey Epstein approached Lord Peter Mandelson about advertising jobs for Leonardo DiCaprio, according to the latest tranche of files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday
A new picture of Lord Mandelson having a foot massage emerged today
'So name-dropping?' the lawyer asked Sjoberg, to which she replied: 'Yes.'
The accuser clarified that she had never met Blanchett or DiCaprio.
A representative of DiCaprio has previously denied any calls between him and the convicted sex offender, while a representative for Blanchett said that she had never met or had any calls with Epstein.
Buried in the three million documents published by the DOJ are emails that indicate Lord Mandelson was in close contact with Epstein during a period when he was at the heart of No 10 amid the financial crisis.
The documents include emails apparently forwarded by Lord Mandelson in 2009 containing discussions between senior Downing Street aides and ministers about the UK's response to the Credit Crunch and which government assets might be 'saleable'.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has demanded a Cabinet Office probe into what he called the 'wholly unacceptable' disclosure of details relating to his government's handling of the financial crisis.
Reflecting on his association with Epstein, Lord Mandelson says he now deeply regrets continuing any contact after the financier's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
'He was a master manipulator. I can see that now. But the point is that his victims certainly did know what he was doing,' he told The Times, adding that he only fully grasped the extent of Epstein's crimes after his death in 2019 and has apologised to the women and girls who suffered.
Other documents appear to show Lord Mandelson advising Epstein on how he and his powerful contacts could lobby against a bankers' bonus tax introduced in December 2009.
In one apparent exchange, Epstein asked whether the levy could be limited to the cash portion of bonuses, with a reply suggesting Lord Mandelson was 'trying hard' to amend the policy.
Further material appears to show Lord Mandelson giving Epstein advance notice of a €500billion eurozone bailout in May 2010, after Labour lost the general election but before the Coalition government took office.
Epstein allegedly made several payments to Lord Mandelson and his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, the documents show.
Bank statements released as part of the drop on Friday suggest the financier made three $25,000 transactions referencing Lord Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.
Separate emails between the two men show that in 2009, Epstein personally wired Lord Mandelson's now husband $10,000 to fund an osteopathy course and other expenses.
An extraordinary photograph has also emerged apparently of Lord Mandelson standing in his underpants and chatting to a woman who is wearing a white bathrobe.
Lord Mandelson talking to a woman in a white bathrobe while in his underwear
In 2022 a picture emerged of Lord Mandelson, who appears to be singing as Epstein blows out the candles on a birthday cake in the financier's Paris apartment
He said he has 'no idea what I am doing in this photograph or who the woman was. It looks as though she came in and showed me something on an iPad'.
It came as a new embarrassing picture of Lord Mandelson was released, this time of him with a cheesy grin while getting a foot massage.
About the alleged Epstein payments amounting to $75,000 between 2003 and 2004, he insists he has 'absolutely no recollection or records of receiving his money and I think I would remember such a large sum'.
The peer, who was sacked as US ambassador last year because of his links to the paedophile, has consistently denied any sexual misconduct or awareness of Epstein’s crimes.
