General Discussion

He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management, with financing by Jeffrey Epstein. The subject of a 60 Minutes investigation in 1988, Brunel faced allegations of sexual assault spanning three decades.

Brunel came under scrutiny for his ties to Epstein, with whom he worked from the early 2000s to 2015. Brunel was accused of grooming young females and of taking part in an alleged sex trafficking operation involving Epstein. In 2019, the French National Police launched an investigation on Brunel after he went into hiding following Epstein's death. He was arrested on 16 December 2020, and French prosecutors charged him with the rape of minors; however, he hanged himself in his cell before his trial could proceed.

In 2002, Brunel was again associated with abuse after Elite supermodel Karen Mulder described to the French press the culture of sexual misconduct and manipulation prevalent in the modeling industry. Virginia Giuffre accused Brunel of having sexually trafficked girls for Epstein. Giuffre claimed in a 2015 affidavit that Epstein bragged to her that he had "slept with over 1,000 of Brunel's girls". Brunel responded by denying involvement in any illegal activities with Epstein, saying, "I strongly deny having committed any illicit act or any wrongdoing in the course of my work as a scouter or model agencies manager." From 1998 to 2005, Brunel was listed as a passenger in flight logs for Epstein's private plane on 25 trips. He was also a regular visitor to the jail where Epstein was held in 2008, with at least 70 recorded visits.

Brunel sued Epstein in 2015, claiming that he and MC2 had "lost multiple contacts and business in the modelling business as a result of Epstein's illegal actions". He also alleged that Epstein had obstructed justice by directing Brunel to avoid having his deposition taken in the criminal case against Epstein by the Palm Beach Police Department. The lawsuit was later dismissed. In 2019, it was revealed that Brunel was among those named in court documents from a civil suit by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell. The documents were unsealed on 9 August 2019, a day before Epstein's death. Giuffre alleged that she was sexually trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to several high-profile individuals, including Brunel, while she was underage in the early 2000s. Brunel was last seen in public at the Paris Country Club on 5 July 2019.