Lorraine viewers fuming as Lady Victoria Hervey brands convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell a ‘scapegoat’

Lorraine viewers are furious after guest Lady Victoria Hervey said convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell is a ‘scapegoat’.

Last month, Maxwell was found guilty of enticing vulnerable teenagers to Jeffrey Epstein’s various properties for him to sexually abuse between 1994 and 2004.

The trial heard how the 60-year-old socialite summoned a 14-year-old girl to an orgy, groped another victim, and laid a schoolgirl outfit out for a third accuser before a sexualised massage with Epstein because she ‘thought it would be fun’.

The defendant also asked one of her accusers to undress for a massage and left her ‘frozen’ after rubbing her breasts. Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

On Tuesday’s episode of Lorraine, Victoria, a British socialite friend of Maxwell, joined the programme live from Los Angeles.

Referring to Maxwell, she told the show: ‘She unfortunately is a scapegoat right now because there’s no one else to blame.

‘So, unfortunately, she is being taken down for what he’s [Epstein] done as well, which some might argue is not quite as fair as it could be but that is the situation that she is in right now.’

Lady Victoria Hervey was a guest on today’s Lorraine (Picture: ITV)

Maxwell was found guilty of enticing vulnerable teenagers to Jeffrey Epstein’s various properties for him to sexually abuse (Picture: Getty)

Viewers were outraged by Victoria’s comments and hit out at the remarks on social media.

‘The only unfairly treated people are Ghislaine & Epstein’s victims,’ one fumed. ‘Maxwell isn’t a scapegoat, she isn’t innocent, she’s a sex trafficker!’

Echoing a similar sentiment, another penned: ‘Ghislane is as guilty as Epstein. Why is Victoria so sympathetic towards her?’

Last week, lawyers representing predatory Maxwell asked for no sentencing date to be set as the US court should ‘grant her a new trial’.

More: Lorraine Kelly

Setting out their arguments in a letter to Judge Alison Nathan, the defence counsel said there was a ‘compelling basis’ to overturn Maxwell’s conviction for sex trafficking after a juror revealed they had a been a victim of sexual abuse.

The US government, who prosecuted the case, said in the same letter that a sentence date should be set for three to four months’ time.

Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.