Ex-Barclays boss denies having sex with a woman dressed as Snow White
Former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley told US lawmakers that he did not have sex with a woman dressed as Snow White, denying an allegation arising from emails exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010. The testimony forms part of a congressional investigation into Epstein and again highlights Staley’s long-standing association with the convicted sex offender, which ended his UK banking career.
Emails cited in the questioning referred to “Snow White” and other Disney princesses, while a separate message claimed that a woman in a Snow White costume had sex twice. Staley said he may have encountered the woman at Epstein’s apartment but insisted the incident had “nothing to do” with him, and denied that Disney princess names were codes for arranging sexual encounters. He led Barclays from 2015 until 2021, later receiving a UK financial-services ban for misleading regulators about the extent of his Epstein relationship.
- Staley denied the Snow White sexual encounter allegation.
- US lawmakers questioned him over Epstein-related emails.
- His Epstein friendship led to a UK banking ban.
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Jes Staley was chief executive of Barclays, a major UK bank, from 2015 to 2021. Before that, he had a long association with Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier who was convicted of sex offences.
Epstein’s relationships with prominent people have been examined by US lawmakers. Emails between him and Staley in 2010 mentioned Snow White and other Disney characters, prompting questions about what the references meant.
Staley’s association with Epstein also led to scrutiny by UK financial regulators and ended his banking career. In 2023, he was banned from senior roles in UK financial services after regulators found he had misled them about the relationship.