In February 2013, the Motion Picture and Television Fund hosted its splashy “The Night Before” fundraising gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The gala, held each Oscar season to support the fund's hospitals and senior care facilities, including the Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, attracts A-list actors and top entertainment executives.
One ticket buyer for that year's gala didn't attract much scrutiny at the time: Jeffrey Epstein.
The disgraced financier had arranged, through a shell company, to purchase a $15,000 ticket for Hollywood publicist Peggy Siegal to attend the 2013 event, according to bank statements and emails between Epstein's team and the MPTF reviewed by The Times.
The Feb. 28 check for the fundraising gala was described in emails as a tax-deductible donation to the century-old Hollywood charity founded by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and others. Although the fine was in Siegal's name, key MPTF members knew Epstein paid it, according to the emails.
The publicist's participation in the gala came at a crucial time for Epstein, who was seeking to rehabilitate his image, severely damaged by his 2008 conviction. Siegal features heavily in Epstein's files, which describe his role in helping to reintroduce him to society after his time in prison.
The communications provide insight into Epstein's efforts to maintain ties with influential figures in Hollywood and beyond, years after his conviction.
“Thank you so much for bending the rules and selling me a ticket,” Siegal wrote, “for such a worthy cause.”
Documents included in the US Department of Justice's release of Jeffrey Epstein's files are pictured on January 2, 2026.
(Jon Elswick / Associated Press)
The MPTF has been a favorite charity of future music and sports mogul Casey Wasserman, whose last name has graced the MPTF's main campus in Woodland Hills since 1998. Wasserman recently announced he would sell his eponymous talent agency amid fallout over his ties to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Although Wasserman sits on the charity's board of directors, he did not oversee the 2013 fundraising efforts, which were led by DreamWorks benefactor and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg. There is no evidence that Wasserman or Katzenberg, who also serves on LA28's board of directors, knew Siegal would be attending on Epstein's behalf, or that they interacted with the publicist at the event.
Wasserman declined to comment, but a source close to the mogul who was not authorized to comment said he did not know about Epstein's purchase of the ticket and did not know Siegal or speak to her at the event.
The latest batch of Epstein documents released by the Justice Department showed that Wasserman had exchanged sexually charged emails with Epstein co-conspirator Maxwell in 2003, after flying on Epstein's plane with her and former President Clinton on a humanitarian trip to Africa in 2002.
Wasserman apologized for his correspondence with Maxwell and recently told The Times that the trip to Africa was the only time he met Epstein. He maintains his position as leader of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, whose organizing committee has supported him.
Representatives for Katzenberg, the MPTF and Siegal did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
At the time Siegal contacted the MPTF, Epstein and his team had begun a campaign to renew their ties to powerful people in the worlds of finance, science and entertainment.
In June 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting someone under 18 for prostitution.
According to a secret agreement with the United States attorney. Alexander Acosta (later President Trump's Secretary of Labor), the Justice Department agreed not to prosecute Epstein at the federal level. Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in jail, most of it served in a work release program that allowed him to be released from jail daily.
Years later, Epstein, with the help of Siegal and his assistant Lesley Groff, made new overtures to Hollywood's elite.
“I have no idea what the reaction will be to your re-entry into society,” Siegal wrote to him after his release from prison. “But take it easy and stay quiet. Your friends are there to help you.”
In September 2012, Epstein attended a conference at the headquarters of technology company Esri in Redlands, where Katzenberg interviewed television legend Norman Lear.
That same month, emails between Epstein and Katzenberg's teams, with the subject line “Invitation from JEFFERY KATZENBERG,” show that on Sept. 6, Epstein accepted an invitation to a dinner in New York at Monkey Bar and a screening of the DreamWorks Animation film “Rise of the Guardians,” described as “an epic, magical adventure telling the story of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy” and other childhood characters, according to the invitation.
Siegal was familiar with the MPTF's “The Night Before” gala and the kind of access to celebrities and executives it could provide. Her public relations career often found her throwing lavish parties for Oscar-contending films.
In 2012, he wrote a dispatch about that year's MPTF gala for the Huffington Post, titled “Vive L'Oscars,” where he mentioned that “Jeffrey Katzenberg had already secured $200 million of a $350 million fundraising goal that included money from him, Tom Cruise, Steve Bing, Casey Wasserman, [George] Clooney and [Steven] Spielberg. All nominees showed up.” The dispatch appeared in Epstein's files.
The 2013 gala occurred in a key period for the organization. The previous year, he reopened his nursing home in Woodland Hills after suffering millions in losses due to fears of bankruptcy. Raising funds for his $275 million campaign was a top priority.
“It's been long and it's been hard and very difficult at times, but the good news is that the bad news is behind us,” Katzenberg told The Times in 2012. “Now I feel like this is really a new day.”
On January 31, Epstein received an email about the MPTF gala from a redacted address, asking if he “agreed to pay $15,000 for a ticket for Peggy if she participates in a party.”
On February 14, Siegal wrote to MPTF representatives to purchase a ticket to the gala.
Siegal then wrote to Epstein's assistant Groff, with MPTF special events manager Jessica Milten and others from the organization copied.
The February 15 email read: “On behalf of Jeffrey Epstein… Barrie [Robinson] will email us the payment form for Jeffrey Katzenberg's 'Night Before' party at the [Beverly Hills Hotel] on Saturday, February 23. It is a tax-deductible donation that allows me to attend. Thank you so much. I'll be at the BHH on Thursday. xoxo Peggy.”
Nikki Bernstein, special events coordinator for the MPTF Foundation, responded to Siegal: “Hi Peggy, thank you so much for your recent commitment to support the 11th Annual Night Before the Oscars to benefit MPTF. We greatly appreciate your support and are thrilled to have you join us this year.”
Epstein's team then issued the check through a company called “Enhanced Education.”
It is an alias for the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation in the Virgin Islands.
Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.
