Woody Allen says he has no regrets about socializing with Jeffrey Epstein.The filmmaker was strikingly nonchalant about his ties to the disgraced financier and sex offender in an interview from last weekend’s edition of The Sunday Times, where he called Epstein a “charming and personable” man who “couldn’t have been nicer.” Allen seemed forthcoming as he recalled how he first met the late financier at a dinner Epstein hosted for Prince Andrew in 2010, two years after he was convicted of soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.The “Manhattan” auteur remembered accepting a publicist’s invitation, largely based on what he knew of Epstein’s social circle and the fact that they were neighbors.“We didn’t know Jeffrey at all then, but we see all these people there and they all embraced him, so we figured, ‘OK, he’s a substantial character.’”Asked if he was aware of Epstein’s criminal record, Allen didn’t have a straight answer.In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Woody Allen (here in September 2023) said financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein "couldn’t have been nicer" during the times they socialized.Europa Press News via Getty Images“He told us he’d been in jail and that he had been — I can’t remember the word — but that he’d been falsely put in jail in some way,” the director said, quickly landing on the word “extorted” that was suggested by his interviewer.It seemed Allen was more than willing to accept Epstein’s explanation, adding, “He told us he was trying to make up for it now by being philanthropic and giving money to cutting-edge scientists and universities. He couldn’t have been nicer.”Allen and wife Soon-Yi Previn would continue attending Epstein’s dinner parties, where Allen remembered being impressed by the distinguished guests. “We would go and there was always a table of illustrious people, college professors, scientists, Nobel laureates — accomplished people who were fun to listen to,” the Oscar winner said, while also making sure to say that he “never, ever, saw Jeffrey with underage girls.”“He always had a girlfriend but never an underage girlfriend,” he maintained.Asked if he had any regrets about socializing with Epstein, Allen saw no reason to distance himself from the infamous sex offender.“Well, I’m a writer, so I don’t get put off,” he explained. “Those dinners were fascinating, and when it was all uncovered, it becomes interesting to a writer, because then you’re dealing with a kind of nefarious character on your doorstep.”Epstein was arrested on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in July 2019 and died in his jail cell a month later.Close