Despite his death, Jeffrey Epstein, an infamous sex offender, is still haunting individuals who have links with him.
But Brett Ratner, known for directing the Rush Hour franchise, denies any connection to him after his snap with the disgraced paedophile surfaced in new documents released from Epstein's files.
To make matters worse, two unidentified women were also featured in the photo, as Epstein was, in parallel, running a sex trafficking racket to procure minor girls for sexual gratification for him and his uber-rich friends.
But Ratner strongly denied any wrongdoing; providing his version, he tells Fox News that he went to the deceased financier's party with his girlfriend on her invitation.
“About 20 years ago, I had a girlfriend, I was in love with her, we were engaged, she was my fiancé, we went to an event and we were sitting on the couch and the photo was taken at that event."
He clarifies that he did not have a personal relationship with Epstein; in fact, Ratner adds that he did not know him, nor does he have a recollection of when the photo was taken.
“I didn’t have a personal relationship with him, I didn’t know him. And that’s where the picture was taken. I didn’t even remember. Because I’d been asked in the past ‘Do you know him?’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t think so’ because I didn’t have a personal relationship with him.”
However, Ratner shares that one of the girls in the photo was his then-fiancée.
“My fiancé invited me to that event,” he continued. “At the time, the girl in the picture is my fiancé. And that’s it. You get thrown into these things, it’s crazy, it’s horrible.”
It is worth noting that the picture in question did not indicate any wrongdoing by Ratner, who is having a resurgence in his career after recently helming the documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.