Hugh Hefner Reportedly Tipped FBI About Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 After Playmate Alleged Rape and Trafficking

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner repeatedly contacted the FBI about Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 after a Playboy Playmate told him that the disgraced financier had raped and trafficked her, according to newly revealed allegations contained in a federal lawsuit.

Audra Lynn Christiansen, Playboy’s Miss October 2003, was 23 years old and living at Hefner’s Beverly Hills mansion when she turned to the influential publisher for help. Christiansen believed Hefner’s prominence and law enforcement connections could help ensure authorities took her allegations seriously.

According to the amended complaint, Christiansen told Hefner that Epstein had sexually assaulted her and trafficked her. She also alleged that she had been trafficked to Macau casino billionaire Stanley Ho, who died in 2020.

Christiansen asked Hefner to contact federal authorities on her behalf. The lawsuit states that Hefner subsequently called the FBI multiple times to report Epstein and seek assistance for Christiansen.

Despite those efforts, the lawsuit alleges that the FBI failed to meaningfully follow up on the information for approximately 15 years. Christiansen was not contacted by federal investigators about the allegations until October 2020, more than a year after Epstein died in federal custody.

During that 2020 conversation, Christiansen reportedly told investigators that her agents had introduced her to Epstein after her Playboy appearance. According to the allegations described in court filings, Epstein wanted to meet Christiansen after seeing her Playboy shoot.

The revelations are part of a broader lawsuit brought by 32 Epstein victims against the United States. The women accuse the FBI of repeatedly failing to properly investigate warnings about Epstein’s sexual abuse and trafficking operation over a period spanning decades.

The complaint points to allegations that federal authorities received warnings about Epstein as early as 1996. Epstein survivor Maria Farmer has said she contacted the FBI that year and reported that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were abusing minors, allegations that have become central to questions surrounding the bureau’s handling of the case.

The federal government has sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing in part that the FBI is not legally required to investigate every complaint it receives. The victims’ attorneys argue that the government’s response avoids accountability for what they characterize as years of missed opportunities to stop Epstein.

Hefner died in 2017, two years before Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. Hefner himself faced posthumous allegations of sexual misconduct in the documentary series “Secrets of Playboy,” though those allegations were never adjudicated in court.

The newly surfaced account nevertheless adds another striking chapter to the history of warnings authorities allegedly received about Epstein. According to the lawsuit, one of America’s most famous publishers personally contacted the FBI multiple times about allegations involving Epstein in 2005, yet the woman at the center of the report says federal investigators did not come back to her until 15 years later.