Carole Radziwill on Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘She Is a Monster’

It’s been a long time coming, but former Real Housewives of New York star Carole Radziwill is finally breaking her silence about her past friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell. Following the release of new documents connected to the late Jeffrey Epstein, Radziwill shared her shock and dismay with The New York Times, calling Maxwell a “monster.”

Shocked by the Revelations

Radziwill, who was friends with Maxwell in the early 2000s for about five or six years, expressed her disbelief. “Imagine knowing someone… and then they turn out to be, like, a monster,” she stated. The revelations about Maxwell’s involvement in a sex trafficking ring have clearly been difficult for Radziwill to process.

She described Maxwell as intelligent and well-liked within their social circles, which made the eventual truth even more jarring. “The thing about her that made it easy for me to spend any time with her at all was that she was very intelligent, she was educated,” Radziwill explained. “If you lined up 10 women, and you asked, like, pick the woman who would be involved in an international sex trafficking ring, it would not be her.”

Connection Through Maxwell

Radziwill clarified that her only connection to Jeffrey Epstein was through Maxwell. While she recalled attending a party at Maxwell’s home where Epstein was present, she firmly stated, “I never knew Jeffrey Epstein.”

Adding to the past connection, Maxwell even photographed a portrait of Radziwill for her 2005 memoir, “What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love.” Despite this past interaction, Radziwill acknowledges that some people will continue to judge her based on this former friendship.

You’re going to be misunderstood, and it’s OK. Once you’re there, it’s, like, a peaceful feeling. — Carole Radziwill

Radziwill’s Reality TV Journey

Radziwill joined The Real Housewives of New York City in its fifth season back in 2012. A former journalist and bestselling author, she was no stranger to drama, often finding herself in the middle of conflicts with castmates like Bethenny Frankel, Aviva Drescher, and Luann de Lesseps. She stayed with the show for six seasons, departing in 2018 after her friendship with Bethenny took a significant downturn during season 10.