Every day since the Department of Justice published 3.5 million new documents related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein on January 30, we have learned about yet another powerful man who communicated with the convicted rapist and people in his network. Late last week, the name Peter Thomas Roth surfaced. According to what appears to be emails in the DOJ release, the skin care brand’s founder had been in contact with Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell from 2004 until 2018. Now, influencers and content creators are publicly rejecting Roth’s brand and—along with other everyday consumers—wanting to boycott this information.
There is nothing in the files to show that Roth was involved in any criminal behavior, but he exchanged several friendly emails with Epstein and Maxwell long after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution and procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. In September 2017, Roth allegedly visited Epstein’s home to “explain to all the girls about skin creams, cleansers and more,” according to the email. That same month, Roth sent Epstein 13 gift bags full of products. In another email, dated August 2018, Roth sent Epstein a link to a New York Post story on the subject. Steve Bannon Tries to Get on Disgraced Jeffrey Epstein’s Good Side,” saying “Your picture is beautiful!!!” Epstein responded with “cool,” to which Roth responded with three slapping emojis. Epstein was subsequently charged with sex trafficking in July 2019.
Roth launched her skin care line in 1993 after struggling to find products to treat her acne. The brand is now carried at Sephora, Ulta, and QVC. In a statement sent to SeductionPeter Thomas Roth’s representatives say that Roth is “ceasing the day-to-day operations of his eponymous brand in 2016.” According to the brand’s website, Roth “leads all research and development efforts.” He is still the CEO.
On February 8, skin care promoter Hyram Yarbro posted a 26-minute YouTube video in which he said he would no longer promote the brand. He says he has featured its products in “hundreds” of his videos. “I just found out that one of my favorite skin care brands out of hundreds of videos since the beginning of my channel, Peter Thomas Roth, is now in the Epstein files,” Yarbro said in the video. “I personally will no longer support him or the name.” At press time, the video has over 230,000 views and over 2,000 comments, with some saying they will boycott Ulta and Sephora as long as they continue to carry the brand.
JC Dombrowski, the content creator, also posted a video saying he is severing any connection with the brand, removing any previous videos he made featuring their products, and asking to be removed from his social media group’s mailing list. “I feel especially disappointed, violated, and surprised that my content helped someone pay money and something like that,” he wrote in his caption, where he described himself as a survivor of abuse.
People all over the internet who have very little followers, including Reddit, are also criticizing Roth and his product, asking others to stop buying his products. “I’m really disgusted and angry about this. PTR made one of my favorite cosmetics, but after this, I won’t be buying anymore,” wrote one user on the /BeautyGuruChatter subReddit.
When Seduction asked Peter Thomas Roth’s product representatives for comment, pointing us to a statement that Roth posted on both his personal Instagram profile and the brand on February 5. In it, he said that Epstein was his physics teacher at the Dalton School in New York City in the early 70s. “We kept in touch over the next fifty years,” he wrote. “I am horrified by the crimes he committed and the lasting impact they have had on his victims, and I deeply regret maintaining any association with him after leaving Dalton school.”