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.”
Wow. Melinda Gates on the 1 time she met Jeffrey Epstein: “I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it…my heart breaks for these young women because that's how I felt…” @CBSMornings pic.twitter.com/7vuJDgplHC
— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) March 3, 2022
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.”
In a CNN exclusive interview, Bill Gates said he regrets his relationship with the late, disgraced sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, calling their interactions 'a huge mistake.' He also answered questions about his divorce from Melinda French Gates, which was finalized on Monday. pic.twitter.com/3kzmuG3s6X
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 6, 2021
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.