Piers Morgan distances himself from Ghislaine Maxwell, says photo of them together shows a one-off conversation

• Piers Morgan has addressed a photo of him and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2013.

• He says they spoke for five minutes, saying she "seemed nice," but it's now apparent she is "a monster."

• He defended himself by saying meeting and interviewing people is part of his job.

British media personality Piers Morgan has tweeted a photo of him and Ghislaine Maxwell at a party in New York in 2013.

The pair were photographed at the Breakfast with Lucian by Geordie Grieg event on October 21, 2013, in New York, according to Getty Images.

Morgan recalled that Maxwell "seemed nice" but added, "Obviously, she's a monster."

Morgan says he spoke to Maxwell — Jeffrey Epstein's associate who has been found guilty of five charges of sex trafficking— about her father for five minutes.

Related video: R. Kelly found guilty of sex trafficking charges

Maxwell's father was the media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who was once a Member of Parliament and the owner of the Mirror group of newspapers. Morgan was the editor of the Daily Mirror, one of the UK's leading tabloids, between 1995-2004, but never worked for Maxwell. He died in 1991 after falling overboard from his yacht, called the "Lady Ghislaine," amid a financial scandal.

Before Morgan addressed the photo sent to him repeatedly on Twitter, he described Maxwell as a "vile sex trafficker." He said that her conviction and upcoming sentencing could lead to "a lot of rich, powerful & famous people sweating tonight..."

In response to the photo of him and Maxwell, Morgan was sent other images of him with several celebrities convicted of sexual offenses, including the jailed film producer Harvey Weinstein.

He responded: "I've interviewed 1000s of people over the years, a tiny number of whom later turned out to be sex offenders."

Maxwell was convicted on December 29 of five of six sex trafficking charges by a New York court and faces a potential sentence of 65 years.

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