New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was confronted by a group of angry protesters outside his official residence, Gracie Mansion, after recent disclosures connected his mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, to correspondence linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The confrontation followed the public release of a vast new tranche of Epstein-related documents by the US Department of Justice.
Videos circulating on social media showed protesters gathered outside Gracie Mansion using a megaphone to shout slogans such as “shame” and “you lied to us.” Some in the crowd claimed they had previously supported Mamdani’s campaign, accusing him of betraying their trust. They repeatedly referenced his mother, asserting that revelations about her past associations had changed their view of him.
The backlash was triggered after Mira Nair’s name appeared in an email connected to a 2009 social gathering at the townhouse of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted of sex trafficking-related offences. The email suggested that Nair attended an after-party following a film screening, along with several high-profile figures.
The email, dated October 21, 2009, was written by American publicist Peggy Siegal. In the message, Siegal mentioned leaving Maxwell’s townhouse after a film-related event and listed attendees that reportedly included Bill Clinton, Jeff Bezos, Jean Pigozzi, and director Mira Nair. The email also offered candid remarks about the reception of the film and referenced actors Hillary Swank and Richard Gere.
Although the email did not explicitly name the film, it is widely believed to refer to Amelia, Nair’s 2009 biographical film about aviator Amelia Earhart, which starred Swank and Gere. The mention of a post-screening event and the timing align with the film’s promotional period.
The controversy erupted shortly after the Justice Department released more than three million additional pages of Epstein-related records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by Donald Trump on November 19, 2025. The latest disclosure included over 2,000 videos and roughly 180,000 images, bringing the total volume of publicly available Epstein-related material to nearly 3.5 million pages.
According to officials, the records were compiled from multiple investigations and legal proceedings, including cases in Florida and New York involving Epstein, the New York prosecution of Maxwell, inquiries into Epstein’s death, a Florida case involving a former Epstein butler, several Federal Bureau of Investigation probes, and an Office of Inspector General review related to Epstein’s incarceration and death.
Zohran Mamdani took office as New York City’s mayor on January 1 after defeating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. At 34, he became the youngest mayor in the city’s history as well as its first Muslim mayor. He succeeded Eric Adams, who declined to seek re-election but remained on the ballot.
