After the recent labor-related controversy, the Grand Theft Auto brand could be facing new complications. Former Rockstar North president and GTA lead Leslie Benzies, alongside Rockstar Games president Sam Houser, have been named in newly released Epstein-related files. The references appear in an email correspondence written by Sarah Ransome, a confirmed victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, which appears in the unsealed court records.
Ransome directly named Benzies — spelled as Benzie in the files — and Houser on page 38 of the latest batch of documents. She describes both as potential witnesses in an ongoing legal claim against the FBI and the US government over their handling of her case. In the statement, Ransome alleges that Benzies sexually assaulted her while the two were dating in the mid-2000s. In her witness list, she wrote:
Leslie Benzie (seeming as if he invented the throwing of money at a ‘prostitute’ on me, then sexually assaulted me afterwards… kids, that’s what drugs do, then used it in video games for entertainment for millions of people!!! That shit had to come from somewhere, why not the guy that helped invent GTA!!
Leslie also visited me in NY and knew what was happening and gave me the money to book my ticket to NY when I arrived on the 1st of September 2006 – check his bank records)
Sam Houser, (You met me ample times when dating Leslie, and now the time has come about what you and your Rockstar North boys really get up to behind the scenes. I’m surprised there has yet to be a class action for you guys alone!!)
The files do not allege that the GTA developers had any direct involvement with Epstein. Nor do they claim that either man visited Epstein’s properties or appeared on flight logs associated with his activities. Ransome’s statements are presented solely as her personal account and are not findings made by investigators or the Department of Justice.
The email containing Ransome’s statement itself was written in December 2023. The wider witness list includes numerous high-profile political, business, and media figures, including Mark Zuckerberg, Melinda Gates, and Oprah Winfrey, among others.
Leslie Benzies left Rockstar North in 2016 following a legal dispute with Rockstar Games’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive. He later founded Build a Rocket Boy, the studio behind the poorly-received open-world game MindsEye. Meanwhile, Sam Houser continues to serve as president of Rockstar Games, spearheading the upcoming GTA 6. His brother and fellow co-founder, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020 to form Absurd Ventures.
