While America obsesses about which celebrities flew on Jeffrey Epstein's jets and whose names appear in his contact book, we have forgotten the most important number in this entire scandal: 1,000.

That's how many young women and girls were sexually exploited and trafficked by Epstein and his network — yet their stories have become mere footnotes in our collective fascination with powerful names and conspiracy theories. 

The media's treatment of the Epstein case mirrors what I've witnessed firsthand in Nevada's coverage of our legal brothel industry. When the late Dennis Hof — brothel owner, HBO reality show star and Republican Assembly candidate — dominated headlines, the focus was overwhelmingly on his larger-than-life personality, his celebrity connections and the novelty of legalized vice. Similarly, Lance Gilman, the Storey County commissioner who owns the Mustang Ranch, has received extensive media coverage that often emphasizes his role as a successful businessman and political figure rather than examining the experiences of women in his establishment.

This celebrity-focused coverage creates the same problem we see with the Epstein files. The voices and experiences of exploited women become background noise to stories about powerful men. In my work representing survivors from Nevada's legal brothels in federal court, I've seen how this dynamic silences the very people whose stories matter most.

For example, when Hof died in 2018, media coverage focused on the political implications of his posthumous election victory, his celebrity friendships and his role as a colorful Nevada character. Lost in that coverage were the voices of exploited and abused women, some of whom were my clients, who described systematic exploitation in his establishments. These women alleged being subjected to rape, coercive debt bondage, restricted movement and financial control that meets the federal definition of trafficking.

Much of the discussion around the Epstein case refers to a supposed “client list” — a term that sanitizes and obscures the reality of what occurred. If such a list exists, it would not be a record of people who engaged in legitimate business transactions. It would be documentation of individuals who participated in the sexual exploitation of trafficked women and minors.

This euphemistic language is all too familiar to us in Nevada. Our state's commercial sex industry has long used terms such as “entertainment” and “adult services” to obscure the reality of exploitation. Brothel owners Hof and Gilman have marketed themselves as legitimate businessmen rather than the pimps and profiteers they actually are in a legal system that reduces human beings to commodities to be bought and sold. This normalization of exploitative language creates the same problem we see with “client lists” — it disguises criminal activity and human harm behind business terminology.

Nevada's experience demonstrates how celebrity culture can normalize even the most exploitative systems. Hof leveraged his HBO reality show Cathouse to transform himself from brothel owner to Nevada folk hero. His political campaigns received extensive coverage that rarely examined the systematic exploitation occurring in his establishments. When he auctioned women's virginity for international publicity, media coverage focused on the spectacle rather than questioning the ethics of commodifying women's sexuality for profit.

Likewise, when Gilman created promotional videos with titles such as Hunt a Ho — depicting women as “prey” to be hunted by men with 60-caliber paintball rifles — the media often treated it as quirky marketing rather than dehumanizing objectification. Indeed, in the video Gilman brags about hosting an event where a world record was set for “jumping the most titties.” This was Gilman’s “hot” idea to generate business.

This celebrity-driven normalization has real consequences for trafficking survivors. In recent documentaries exposing the harms of commercial sexual exploitation, prostitution and sex trafficking, survivors have described being told by their traffickers that their exploitation was legal because Nevada allows prostitution. The state's celebrity brothel owners have created a veneer of legitimacy that traffickers exploit to confuse and control their victims.

Gilman, as a county commissioner and brothel owner, embodies this problem. He has used his political position and media profile to legitimize an industry that victims describe as systematically exploitative. Yet media coverage often portrays him as a successful businessman and civic leader, with little scrutiny of how his dual roles create obvious conflicts of interest in regulating the very industry from which he profits.

Furthermore, Nevada's experience also reflects a broader cultural problem in how we discuss and understand commercial sexual exploitation. We are drawn to the salacious details and the powerful names, but we shy away from the harder conversations about economic inequality, social vulnerability and the systems that make trafficking possible.

The uncomfortable truth is that Nevada's legal prostitution system doesn't prevent trafficking — it fuels it. Research shows that wherever prostitution is legalized, sex trafficking increases, and Nevada's illegal sex trade is now twice as large as other states. Legal brothel owners such as Gilman use the veneer of legitimacy to induce people to travel across state lines for commercial sex, creating the very demand that drives illegal trafficking. Survivors from legal and illegal prostitution describe identical experiences of coercion, debt bondage and what they call “paid rape” — because fundamentally, the exchange of money for sex acts constitutes sexual coercion regardless of its legal status. 

Sex trafficking, whether legal or illegal, is a form of modern-day slavery. Nevada's celebrity brothel owners are simply state-sanctioned traffickers, profiting from a system that treats women's bodies as commodities while the illegal market flourishes in their shadow.

What's most alarming is how the entertainment media has taken away the basic human dignity of these survivors by turning their trauma into comedy. Late-night TV hosts use the Epstein case for jokes about powerful men and private jets. Comedians on shows such as The Daily Show make fun of Epstein’s “client list,” while social media influencers turn Epstein into memes and create viral content that treats the suffering of trafficking victims as entertainment for conspiracy theories. By allowing their trauma to be exploited in these viral entertainment streams, we’re perpetuating a form of cultural violence that further dehumanizes those who have already suffered unimaginable exploitation.

I’ve seen this same dehumanization in Nevada’s treatment of brothel survivors. When women brave enough to speak out about their experiences in legal brothels share their stories, they're often dismissed as disgruntled former employees rather than trafficking survivors deserving of support.

We must abandon our obsession with celebrity pimps and commit to the demanding work of systemic transformation. Real accountability begins with hearing the voices of survivors themselves. The women and girls who survived Epstein’s trafficking network deserve comprehensive, trauma-informed support that acknowledges the lifelong impact of their exploitation. 

In Nevada, real justice would require fundamental policy changes that address the systemic problems I’ve witnessed in my legal practice. Nevada must end its legal prostitution system that creates a veneer of legitimacy traffickers exploit to confuse victims and normalize the commodification of women’s sexuality. The state should follow the example of countries such as France and Sweden by focusing law enforcement efforts on the demand side — targeting the men who purchase sex rather than criminalizing the women being exploited.

Nevada also needs robust exit services for victims trapped in the commercial sex industry. This means funding comprehensive programs that provide housing, job training, mental health services and legal assistance to help survivors rebuild their lives. Currently, those seeking to leave Nevada’s legal brothels often have nowhere to turn, leaving them vulnerable to continued exploitation.

Many people don’t want to face the harsh reality that Epstein’s operation was successful because it took advantage of a culture that has made it normal to treat human sexuality as a commodity. Genuine justice demands that we reject this commodification altogether, recognizing that any system that reduces human sexuality to a market transaction creates an environment where trafficking can flourish.

For decades, Nevada has fueled the growth of celebrity pimps who profited from exploitation, all while society turned a blind eye. Nevada’s legal brothel system and Epstein’s criminal empire thrived because society prioritized spectacle over suffering. Real accountability means ending Nevada’s involvement in commercial sexual exploitation, providing survivors with comprehensive support and rejecting the celebrity culture that turns human trafficking into a spectacle.

Jason D. Guinasso is an attorney with Greenman Goldberg Raby & Martinez in Reno and Las Vegas. Licensed in Nevada and California, he is a litigator and trial attorney. He also teaches business law at UNR and is a graduate student in the MALTS program at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author in his personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views of his law firm, its clients or any other organization with which the author may be affiliated. 

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