Just hours after leaked emails surfaced showing Faith Kates—the legendary Next Model Management boss who discovered Gisele, Anja Rubik, and a generation of supermodels—discussing teenage girls with Jeffrey Epstein’s inner circle, the queenmaker of fashion vanished from the empire she built over 35 years. On a quiet Monday morning, Next’s website scrubbed her name, staff were fired, and the agency that once defined beauty suddenly became the industry’s loudest reckoning. Victims’ advocates are demanding answers, former models are speaking out, and a glittering legacy now hangs by a thread.
How deep did the connections go—and who else knew?
Just hours after leaked emails began circulating among lawyers, journalists, and advocacy groups, Faith Kates—the formidable co-founder of Next Model Management and one of fashion’s most powerful gatekeepers—vanished from the company she built over more than three decades. By Monday morning, her name had been removed from Next’s website, internal restructuring was underway, and an agency that once defined global beauty standards found itself at the center of an unprecedented crisis.
Faith Kates’ influence on the modeling industry is difficult to overstate. She helped launch the careers of Gisele Bündchen, Anja Rubik, and countless others, shaping not only individual trajectories but the very aesthetics of modern fashion. For 35 years, her authority inside Next was absolute, her reputation carefully managed, her legacy seemingly untouchable.
That image fractured when a new set of leaked emails—connected to the late Jeffrey Epstein—surfaced in connection with ongoing legal proceedings. According to sources familiar with the materials, the emails reference Faith Kates in exchanges involving Epstein’s inner circle. Individuals who have reviewed the documents say the language includes discussions about young girls, a detail that has proven particularly explosive given Epstein’s well-documented history of sexual abuse and trafficking.
No criminal charges have been filed against Kates. No court has ruled that she engaged in illegal activity. Still, the reputational impact was immediate and severe.
Within hours of the emails becoming known internally, Kates was gone. There was no public explanation, no statement from her legal team, and no attempt to contextualize the correspondence. For many in the industry, the speed of her disappearance raised as many questions as the emails themselves.
Next Model Management declined to comment on the substance of the leaked materials, confirming only that the company is undergoing organizational changes. Several staff members were reportedly dismissed or reassigned, fueling speculation that leadership is scrambling to contain the fallout. What was once a carefully controlled empire now appears to be in damage-control mode.
The reaction outside the company has been swift. Victims’ advocates have called for transparency and independent investigations, arguing that the modeling industry has long failed to protect young women from exploitation. Former models—some of whom worked within agencies tied to Epstein’s social orbit—have begun speaking publicly about power imbalances, blurred boundaries, and a culture of silence that allowed harmful behavior to persist unchecked.
None of these accounts directly accuse Faith Kates of wrongdoing. Yet together, they underscore a broader reckoning that fashion has struggled to confront since Epstein’s crimes came to light: how proximity to power, money, and prestige created environments where ethical lines were ignored or rationalized.
For decades, Kates was viewed as a builder—a woman who created opportunity, defined careers, and commanded respect in a ruthless industry. Now, that legacy hangs in uncertainty, suspended between what is known, what is alleged, and what has yet to be fully disclosed.
As more documents are expected to emerge, the central questions remain unanswered. How extensive were the connections revealed in the emails? Who else was aware of them? And how many in positions of influence chose silence over accountability?
What is clear is that this moment marks a turning point. The sudden fall of one of fashion’s most powerful figures has exposed not just a single career in jeopardy, but an entire system facing its most uncomfortable scrutiny yet.
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