Peggy Siegal
Peggy Siegal | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 17, 1947[1] Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | media publicist |
Peggy Siegal (born July 17, 1947) is an American entertainment publicist who advertises new film releases to an audience of media providers and critics.[2] She owns the Peggy Siegal Company, based in Manhattan, which was described as one of the top 12 media marketing firms in 2018.[3] Siegal was involved in a controversy which damaged her business when it was made known she had promoted Jeffrey Epstein.[4]
Early life
[edit]Peggy Siegal was raised in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in a Polish Jewish family.[5][6] Her father owned a light bulb company.[7]
Marketing strategy
[edit]Connected with New York City's elite, Siegal organizes and hosts private events, including film screenings, to which she invites prominent guests to help the film's reception. Her services are in highest demand in the season before award nominations, in particular the Academy Awards.[8] Her reputation in the industry has been attributed, by her and others, to carefully selecting the guests she invites to these events.[2] According to Siegal, she keeps a list of 30,000 contacts divided by nationality, including filmmakers, artists, writers, and finance professionals.[8]
Jeffrey Epstein controversy
[edit]In July 2019, after the New York Times reported Siegal's business connection with Jeffrey Epstein,[9][10] some of Siegal's clients, such as Netflix and FX, canceled their contracts as a result of the Epstein scandal and larger Me Too movement.[4] In 2011 Siegal organized an event at Epstein's mansion whose guests included notable people such as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, George Stephanopoulos, Katie Couric, and Chelsea Handler.[11]
In 2025, the United States House of Representatives released documents related to Epstein, including a 2011 email exchange between Epstein and Siegal. Epstein asked Siegal to enlist the help of Arianna Huffington, co-founder and then editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, to refute accusations of him facilitating sexual assault and to send reporters to investigate Virginia Giuffre, one of his accusers. Siegal offered to contact Huffington, but she, Huffington, and The Huffington Post denied that any such message was sent.[12] Siegal later said that she only offered to help Epstein in order to end the conversation.[13]
The Epstein Files reveal that on 6 August 2010, Siegel sent an email to the convicted pedophile, offering to help him with his "re-entry into society" and advising him to take it "slow and stay quiet". [14] In another email from Siegal to Epstein, she wrote, "Is it going to be 100% JEW NIGHT?", to which Epstein replied "No, goyim in abundance- jpmorgan execs brilliant wasps." In her own defense, Siegal stated to The New York Times: "The culture before #MeToo was — 'You've done your time, now you're forgiven.'"[15]
References
[edit]- ^ Baume, Terry (November 14, 2017). "Peggy Siegal Beauty Routine 2017 | The Strategist | New York Magazine". Nymag.com. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "A Close Look at Peggy Siegal and Her Movie Empire". DuJour. December 15, 2014. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "The Most Powerful Entertainment and Media PR Firms of 2018". Observer. December 14, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Czarnecki, Sean. "Reports: Hollywood studios walk away from Epstein-connected publicist". www.prweek.com.
- ^ Peggy Siegal Sends Her Regrets vanityfair
- ^ Power Publicist Peggy Siegal Compares Epstein Backlash to Living in ‘Nazi Germany’ lamag.com
- ^ Netflix and FX are severing ties with Peggy Siegal, the NYC publicist who got Jeffrey Epstein into A-list events and has been called the 'best way' to make sure your movie wins an Oscar businessinsider
- ^ Jump up to: a b Williams, Alex (February 13, 2016). "Peggy Siegal, Best Hostess in a Supporting Role". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ Weiss, Philip (December 8, 2007). "The Fantasist". NYMag.com.
- ^ Kantor, Jodi; McIntire, Mike; Friedman, Vanessa (July 13, 2019). "Jeffrey Epstein Was a Sex Offender. The Powerful Welcomed Him Anyway". The New York Times.
- ^ Widdicombe, Ben (November 6, 2019). "Tarnished by Epstein Scandal, Can Power Publicist Peggy Siegal Make a Hollywood Comeback?". Town & Country. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ Wendler, Jacob (November 13, 2025). "The 9 most shocking revelations in the Epstein docs". POLITICO. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
- ^ McCreesh, Shawn (November 17, 2025). "Epstein Emails Reveal a Bygone Elite". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
- ^ https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02408549.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/peggy-siegal-epstein-files-emails-dinner-prince-andrew-woody-allen-article-153544610