Lawsuit says Hugh Hefner repeatedly told FBI about Jeffrey Epstein agency did not act for 15 years

A lawsuit filed by 32 alleged victims says Playboy founder Hugh Hefner repeatedly contacted the FBI in 2005 on behalf of a model who told him she had been raped and trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, but investigators did not reach the woman until 2020.

Allegations in the lawsuit

The suit, filed against the US government and cited by the New York Post, says former Playmate Audra Lynn Christiansen sought Hefner’s help in 2005 after reporting alleged abuse by Jeffrey Epstein. According to the filing, Hefner repeatedly called the FBI on her behalf, but the agency did not contact Christiansen until 2020.

Claims about trafficking and a high-profile figure

Christiansen also alleged in the lawsuit that she had been trafficked to Macau casino billionaire Stanley Ho. The filing says she asked Hefner to approach authorities because she believed in his law enforcement connections and his “clout.”

FBI response and litigation

Attorney Jordan Merson, who represents the alleged victims, told the Post that the FBI’s efforts to rely on procedural technicalities to avoid accountability were “deeply concerning.”

In June, the FBI sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing the agency was not legally required to investigate every complaint it received. The case remains pending.

Broader Epstein case context in the filing

The reporting notes that Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and died in custody less than a month later before he could stand trial. It also records his earlier 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a minor and the 13 months he served under a controversial prosecutorial agreement.

The US Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of documents related to Epstein earlier this year. Those files mentioned more than 300 people, including Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger and Kevin Spacey; the coverage notes that appearing in the files does not in itself indicate wrongdoing.

Posthumous allegations against Hefner

The reporting also says Hugh Hefner faced posthumous allegations of sexual abuse and coercion in the 2022 documentary series Secrets of Playboy, released five years after his death. Women featured in the series alleged they had been coerced into sex and drugged; those allegations were not tested in court. The coverage adds that hundreds of women later signed an open letter defending Hefner.