Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, gave a tell-all interview on Thursday morning in which she slammed her ex-husband for meeting with the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Melinda Discusses Bill’s Ties To Epstein
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
After telling “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King that it “wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened” that led to her divorce, Melinda brought up Epstein, who allegedly committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial on sex crime charges back in 2019.
“As I said it’s not one thing, it was many things, but I did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein,” said Melinda, 57, according to People Magazine. “I made that clear to him.”
Related: Bill Gates Throws Massive Wedding For Daughter
Melinda Admits She Met Epstein
However, Melinda went on to admit that she had met Epstein once herself, but she immediately “regretted it.”
“I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door,” she said. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. My heart breaks for these young women.”
Bill responded in a brief statement, saying that “meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. It was a substantial error in judgment.”
Check out Melinda’s full interview below.
Melinda ‘Was Not Afraid To Speak Up’
After news of the Gates’ divorce broke last year, a source close to them said that Bill’s ties to Epstein was a “sore spot” for the former couple.
“She was totally opposed to what she considered shady dealings and some other issues he wanted to pursue in the business area,” said the insider at the time. “She was not afraid to speak up about it either.”
The New York Times reported last year that Bill had “remarked in Mr. Epstein’s presence that he was unhappy in his marriage,” and that Melinda was “unhappy” when the two men’s ties came out in 2019. It was allegedly then that she began consulting with divorce lawyers.
Bill Admits He Made ‘A Huge Mistake’
Bill attempted to own up to his mistake of associating with Epstein, telling CNN that “it was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there.”
“There were lots of others in that situation, but I made a mistake,” he continued. “I had several dinners with him hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge. When it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended.”
Bill and Melinda Gates were married for 27 years and were mega-donors to the Democratic Party before their divorce last year. While they attempted to make their split seem amicable at the time, Bill cannot be happy with Melinda’s interview today.