The NFL says it is looking into links between New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Tisch’s name was mentioned more than 400 times in emails relating to Epstein that were released by the US justice department last week. Tisch has never been charged with any crime connected to the investigation into Epstein.
“The league is aware of the reports and Steve’s response. Our office will look into the matter to understand the facts,” the NFL said in a statement on Monday.
The emails, which were sent in 2013, include messages in which Epstein arranged for Tisch to meet various women.
One communication from May 2013 showed Epstein offering to connect Tisch with a Russian woman. Tisch replied a minute later to ask, “Is she fun?” The next month, Tisch asked Epstein multiple questions about a different woman from Tahiti, including whether she was a “working girl”. Epstein replied, “Never.”
In another email, Epstein followed up with Tisch about a woman the Giants co-owner had met.
“[R]eport just in, you did very well,” Epstein wrote. “[S]he wants to go to the play, she is a little freaked by the age difference but go slow … [I] will try to convince her not to return to Ukraine. having her crying worked.”
Tisch replied, “Nice report … Funny comment on crying!!!”
In a statement on Friday, the 76-year-old Tisch denied any wrongdoing.
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Tisch said of his relationship with Epstein. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
The NFL could punish Tisch under its personal conduct policy, even if there is no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on his part.
“Everyone who is part of the league must refrain from ‘conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in’ the NFL,” the policy reads. “It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime in a court of law. We are all held to a higher standard and must conduct ourselves in a way that is responsible, promotes the values of the NFL, and is lawful.”
The most notable example came in 2023, when the league fined former Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder $60m after it found he sexually harassed a team employee and oversaw team executives who deliberately withheld millions of dollars in revenue from other clubs.
Tisch won an Academy Award in 1994 for producing Forrest Gump and is chairman and executive vice president of the Giants. He has been involved with the team since his father, Preston Tisch, bought 50% of the Giants in 1991 from the Mara family.
The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.
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