Melania director Brett Ratner pictured cuddling woman in Epstein files

The director of the new documentary on US First Lady Melania Trump has appeared embracing a young woman in images released by the US Department of Justice on Friday.

Brett Ratner, who also directed the Rush Hour films and X-Men: The Last Stand, can be seen sitting on a sofa beside the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and two women whose identities have been obscured.

When the images were taken remains unclear, though they appear to have been taken in the same location as photos of Ratner and Epstein alongside the late French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel that were released in December.

There is no indication of wrongdoing from the files. The BBC has contacted Ratner's representative for comment.

The newly released images were part of a tranche of millions of files relating to the late sex offender, who died in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

A series of thumbnails of the picture collection shows Ratner, Epstein and Brunel smiling and relaxing with different women, all of whose identities have been concealed.

The law that led to the files' release mandates that they be redacted to protect victims or ongoing investigations - though a lawyer representing many of them has said the identities of numerous survivors were disclosed in the drop.

The files were released the same day as Melania: 20 Days to History, a behind-the-scenes look at the first lady's life in the days leading up to her husband's January 2025 inauguration.

The film has already suffered from a dismal reception from critics and political commentators over its ties to the Trump administration and funding, which began before it was even showing in cinemas.

It is Ratner's first project since he was accused of sexual misconduct at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017. Ratner has denied the allegations.

The files released on Friday have revealed new details about the relationships Epstein had with high-profile figures, including Elon Musk, Lord Peter Mandelson, Bill Gates and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Among them are images of the former Duke of York, who was stripped of his titles over his association with the disgraced financier, that appear to show the former prince kneeling on all fours over a female lying on the ground.

Brunel, who co-founded French modelling agency Karin Models in 1977 and MC2 Model Management in the US with funding from Epstein, was found hanged in his Paris prison cell in 2022 in an apparent suicide.

He had been under investigation on suspicion of the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation. Prosecutors suspected him of transporting young women for Epstein.