Recently, court documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case were partially released, which mentioned the name of Leslie Benzis, the former president of Rockstar North and the former producer of the "Grand Theft Auto" (GTA) series. Benzis has issued a formal response through a representative.
Benzis' representative said in a statement that the situation mentioned in the documents involved only a consensual relationship of three months and had "no connection" to Epstein himself, his estate or his private jet. "These allegations are false. I had a three-month consensual relationship with this individual. I have never met Jeffrey Epstein, been to his island, any of his properties, or flown on his planes. Any suggestion to the contrary is misleading," Benzis was quoted as saying in the statement.
Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice include testimony from Epstein victim Sarah Ransome, who accuses Benzis of sexually assaulting her and claims Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser knew about it but failed to take action. However, the available materials provide no evidence of direct contact between Benzis or Hauser and Epstein himself.
Leslie Benzis founded and headed Build a Rocket Boy studio after leaving Rockstar. The team's first major project, MindsEye, was released last year to much criticism and reports of development troubles.