Melinda French Gates is reacting to news that her ex-husband, Bill Gates, was named in the latest Epstein Files drop.
“I think we’re having a reckoning as a society. No girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him,” said during a clip from NPR’s “Wild Card with Rachel Martin” podcast, released on Tuesday, February 3. “It’s beyond heartbreaking.”
Melinda, 61, said it’s “personally hard” for her when details from the Epstein Files go public.
“[It] brings back memories of some very very painful times in my marriage. But I have moved on from that,” she continued. “I purposely pushed it away and I moved on. I’m in a really unexpected, beautiful place in my life.”
Melinda said that she “can’t even begin to know” everything that allegedly occurred with those connected to billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019.
“Those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need the answer to those things, not me,” she added. “I am so happy to be away from all the muck.”
Bill, 70, was just one of the more notable names who were included in the latest batch of Epstein Files that went public on Friday, January 30. Epstein claimed in two emails, sent in 2013, that Bill allegedly had sexual relations with two “Russian girls,” which resulted in sexually transmitted infections. Epstein claimed in the emails that the alleged infections needed antibiotics, which were allegedly given to Melinda as well — but without her knowledge.
“These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false,” a spokesperson for Bill told CBS News in a statement. “The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
Hearing the claims against her ex-husband invokes a feeling of “unbelievable sadness” within Melinda.
“I had to leave my marriage. I wanted to leave my marriage,” she continued in the clip, released on Tuesday. “I felt I needed to eventually leave the foundation. It’s just sad. That’s the truth, right? At least for me, I’ve been able to move on in life and I hope there’s some justice for those, now, women.”
Melinda concluded, “What they went through is unimaginable.”
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Bill was married to Melinda for 27 years before they announced their plans to divorce in May 2021. Melinda disclosed the following year that Bill’s alleged connection to Epstein was one of the factors that led to their divorce.
“It’s not one thing, it was many things. But I did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein,” Melinda told CBS Mornings at the time. “I made that clear to him.”
Melinda said she met with Epstein “exactly one time” and “regretted it” immediately.
“He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards,” she alleged. “It was awful, and he was awful.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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