Philanthropist Melinda French Gates told CBS News that her ex-husband’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein contributed to their divorce and called the deceased deviant “evil personified.” (Watch interview above.)

French Gates and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced their separation last May after 27 years of marriage.

French Gates told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King that “many things” led to their split and added “But I did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him.”

 

French Gates said she met Epstein “exactly one time, because I wanted to see who this man was. And I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door.”

“He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. So my heart breaks for these young women,” she explained.

Epstein was charged with running a vast sex trafficking network that entrapped underage girls and serviced him and his powerful friends. He died in an apparent suicide while in police custody in 2019.

In a statement to CBS News, Bill Gates insisted, “Meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. It was a substantial error in judgement. I remain dedicated to my work at the Gates Foundation in partnership with Melinda, where our focus is to help reduce global inequities, giving every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life.”

After their divorce, Gates admitted that he had an extramarital affair.

French Gates told King:

I had a lot of tears for many days. I mean, days where I’m literally laying on the floor and the carpet, you know, this close to me, thinking, ‘How can this be? How can I get up? How am I gonna move forward?’

And days I certainly was angry. I mean, this is painful stuff. And at the end of the day though, I started on this journey of healing, and I feel like I’m starting to get to the other side. And I do feel like I’m turning a page in the chapter now. I mean, it’s 2022 and I’m actually really excited about what’s to come and life ahead for me.

She said she is “friendly” with her ex-husband and remains committed to charity work.

“I do believe that if you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me, you can give away half of it and not change your life. And we should. We should have a society where if for whatever reason wealth is in your hands, you, you put it back in society so that you change and you lift up others,” French Gates said.