NEXT Model Management

In 1988, Brunel was the subject of a seven-month investigation by CBS producer Craig Pyes and reporter Diane Sawyer for 60 Minutes. The investigative segment, "American Models in Paris", which aired in December 1988, covered the conduct of Brunel and fellow Parisian modeling agent Claude Haddad. Several American models who worked with Brunel told 60 Minutes that he fostered a culture in which the models were routinely drugged and sexually abused.

Eileen Ford (of the New York-based Ford Modeling Agency), who had sent her models to Brunel for assignments in Paris, told 60 Minutes that she had not known that models complained of sexual exploitation and drug abuse by Brunel. He denied the claims, but Ford severed ties with him after the broadcast.

Initial police investigation

After Epstein's arrest on 6 July 2019, Brunel disappeared. He was last seen in public on 5 July 2019 at a party at the Paris Country Club.

On 23 August 2019, two weeks after Epstein's death, the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation into rape and sexual assault of minors as well as criminal conspiracy in connection with the Epstein case, aiming "to uncover any offenses committed not only on national territory, but also abroad against French victims or perpetrators of French nationality." Several women recounted parties hosted by Brunel at the Paris apartment where the models were staying and described an atmosphere of prostitution and drugs, unhealthy for minors, and a "climate of sexual violence." Ten women interviewed by the prosecutor's office accused Brunel of rape, including of minors. They reported how they had been made to consume alcohol and drugs at Brunel's parties to the extent that they lost control of their faculties or even lost consciousness, and had been subjected to sexual penetration while incapacitated. Among them was Thysia Huisman, who came forward to report Brunel for spiking her drink and raping her in Paris in 1991 when she had just turned 18.

The prosecutor's announcement of the investigation named Brunel and referred to testimony given by a complainant in the US as well as to statements by two complainants in France. Two complainants stated that Brunel acted as a recruiter for Epstein, luring young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds to the United States with the prospect of modeling jobs. In September 2019, investigators searched Brunel's Paris home and the Karin Models office in Paris.

Epstein Files release and second police investigation

In the 2026 release of the Epstein files, Brunel was listed in a 2019 document as one of the people "the FBI once called co-conspirators" of Epstein. In February 2026, the French authorities announced that they were re-examining Brunel's case, analysing the newly published documents for any information related to him as well as with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals.