Melania director Brett Ratner was seen in new photos released by the Department of Justice, showing him close to Jeffrey Epstein. These pictures were part of a larger set of over 3 million files related to Epstein that were made public on Friday.
Earlier, Ratner had been shown hugging Jean-Luc Brunel, one of Epstein’s associates, who was accused of helping supply girls to Epstein and others.
This image was among 15 thumbnails of Ratner released by the DOJ as part of the massive file dump.
Ratner, 56, is one of several high-profile individuals linked to the Epstein files.
Others include former President Bill Clinton, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, former Prince Andrew, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. However, being in these files doesn’t mean they were convicted of any crimes. Many people connected to Epstein have denied any wrongdoing.
In the newly released images, Ratner can be seen sitting on a sofa with Epstein and Brunel, or with three women whose faces have been blurred.
The release of these photos comes as Ratner promotes his new film, *Melania*, a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump in the weeks leading up to her husband’s second term.
The movie marks his return to directing after a decade away from the spotlight. In 2017, he was accused by six women of sexual misconduct, but he denied those claims.
*Melania* has received mostly negative reviews, with a current rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Critics also questioned the film’s $75 million budget. Ratner defended the cost, calling budget concerns “silly” in an interview with Deadline.
“We spent more money on music in this than I did on *Rush Hour*,” he said.
“I mean, top of the line, three best cinematographers in the world, at the highest level. Eighty people on the first day of shooting in my crew. That’s not unheard of in a documentary. You put the money on the screen.”
Several people involved in the film reportedly asked to have their names taken off, with one person telling *Rolling Stone* they were “a little bit uncomfortable with the propaganda element of this.”
Many cited Ratner, known for directing the *Rush Hour* films, as a problem on set.
Ratner addressed the criticism during the premiere of *Melania* on Thursday.
“I understand if a liberal is working on the movie and they don’t want to be credited, but they want to feed their family,” he told *Variety* in a red carpet interview.
“I don’t blame anybody for that. I don’t know who didn’t want to be a part of it, I wasn’t aware of it, but I learned about it when I read it.”
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