A group of women who accused billionaire Leslie Wexner of helping enable Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking operation has abruptly dropped its lawsuit after a bruising court fight over where the explosive case should be heard.
The 11 plaintiffs filed a corrected notice of voluntary dismissal on September 1 in Manhattan federal court, ending the case for now without prejudice, according to court documents.
That means the women could potentially bring their claims again.
The sudden move came after weeks of increasingly bitter legal maneuvering involving Wexner, the Wexner Foundation and the company connected to Epstein’s notorious Upper East Side mansion.
The women had accused Wexner of providing Epstein with extraordinary access to money, property and financial power that allegedly helped him operate for years.
Epstein’s long relationship with Wexner, the former retail powerhouse behind Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands, has faced renewed scrutiny since Epstein’s arrest and death in 2019.
At the center of the lawsuit was Epstein’s mansion at 9 East 71st Street in Manhattan, where the plaintiffs alleged they were sexually abused.
The women originally filed their case in New York state court in March under the city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law.
But Wexner and the Wexner Foundation pushed the case into federal court, arguing that the parties lived in different states or countries and therefore qualified for federal jurisdiction.
That sparked a major fight over one plaintiff’s residency.
Plaintiff Andrea Sterling claimed she had been living in Tulum, Mexico, since August 2025, a potentially important detail in determining whether the case belonged in federal court.
But lawyers for Nine East 71st Street Corporation challenged that claim in an August 31 filing.
They pointed to a December 2025 interview in which Sterling reportedly stated, “I live in Miami.”
Defense attorneys argued the statement appeared to contradict her later sworn claim that she had been living in Mexico months earlier.
They also alleged Sterling’s LinkedIn page, Backstage profile and a Facebook account connected to her jewelry business continued to identify her as being based in Miami.
The residency dispute became even more heated after defense lawyers revealed that attorneys for the plaintiffs had contacted them on August 19 asking whether they had evidence contradicting Sterling’s claim that she lived in Tulum.
According to the defense filing, plaintiffs’ counsel indicated they might abandon another attempt to move the lawsuit back to state court if the defendants had “concrete evidence” disputing her residency.
Defense attorneys responded with the interview.
The plaintiffs nevertheless filed their second request to send the case back to state court just two days later.
Nine East then asked the judge to reject that request or allow limited discovery into Sterling’s actual residence, potentially including travel, financial and residency records.
Then came the stunning reversal.
Just hours after the defense filed its opposition, the plaintiffs submitted a notice seeking to voluntarily dismiss the entire case.
That first filing was flagged because of a technical error.
A corrected notice was then entered on September 1.
The lawsuit is now dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that the accusers could return to court with the allegations at a later date.
Wexner has faced years of questions over his former relationship with Epstein, who at one point held broad authority over portions of the billionaire’s finances.
The sudden dismissal does not resolve the underlying allegations, but it brings an unexpected halt to one of the newest legal battles examining how Epstein was able to build and maintain his powerful network for so long.
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