Jean-Luc Brunel

Jean-Luc Didier Henri René Brunel (French: [ʒɑ̃ lyk didje ɑ̃ʁi ʁəne bʁynɛl], 18 September 1946 – 19 February 2022) was a French model scout and alleged sex trafficker. He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management with financing by Jeffrey Epstein. The subject of a 60 Minutes investigation in 1988, Brunel faced allegations of procuring prostitution and sexual assault spanning three decades.

Brunel came under scrutiny for his ties to Epstein, with whom he worked from the early 2000s to 2015 after Ghislaine Maxwell had introduced them. He was accused by Virginia Giuffre of grooming girls including herself and of taking part in an alleged sex trafficking operation involving Epstein, but denied involvement in any illegal activities with Epstein.

Following Epstein's death in 2019, Brunel went into hiding. The Paris prosecutor's office launched an investigation into crimes committed by Epstein and others in August of the same year, mentioning Brunel by name. He was arrested on 16 December 2020 and was charged with the rape of a minor. However, before his trial could proceed, Brunel was found hanged in his cell at La Santé Prison. Early media reports referred to his death as suicide, which was confirmed in 2023 following a formal investigation by the prosecutor's office, concluding that he had committed suicide as "a reaction to his indictment and incarceration".

In the 2026 release of the Epstein files, Brunel was listed in a 2019 document as one of the people "the FBI once called co-conspirators" of Epstein.