Featured Image Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates, US News, Celebrity
Lucy Devine
Topics: Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Gates, US News, Celebrity
Bill Gates has admitted to having affairs with two Russian women, but says they were not linked to Jeffrey Epstein's victims.
In the most recent batch of Epstein files, Gates faced shocking allegations that he caught STDs from Russian girls, per an email that the disgraced financier sent in 2013.
The message Epstein is believed to have sent to himself, despite it being addressed to 'Bill', read: "To add insult to the injury you them [sic] implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis."
A spokesperson for Gates categorically denied the claims, calling them 'absolutely absurd and completely false'.
Advert
The Wall Street Journal reports that Gates apologized to Gates Foundation staff at a town hall meeting on Tuesday (February 24), admitting he had made mistakes.
He acknowledged the affairs, which were later discovered by Epstein, but was adamant that he was not a part of Epstein's crimes.
“I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” he said.
The Microsoft co-founder also added that images found in the recent files were pictures Epstein had asked him to take.
“To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates said. “It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein.”
He added: “I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.
“... I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit.”
During the meeting, Gates also explained how he came to be associated with Epstein, explaining they first met in 2011, which was a few years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Gates explained he had been aware of an '18 month thing' that had limited the financier's travel, but didn't look into it thoroughly.
He added that he continued meeting with Epstein in 2014, flew on a private jet and spent time with him in various countries but never stayed overnight or visited his island.
“Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior,” Gates told staff.
Speaking of his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, who had expressed her concerns, Gates added: “To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.”
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said: “This was a scheduled townhall with employees, which Bill does twice a year. In the conversation, Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation's work in AI, and the future of global health.
“In the townhall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”
Melinda herself recently spoke about some of the accusations in the files.
Speaking on NPR's Wild Card podcast earlier this month, she said that 'whatever questions remain there of what I don’t — can’t even begin to know all of it — those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband'. They need to answer to those things, not me.
Melinda continued: “I think we're having a reckoning as a society, right? No girl, 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.
“It's beyond heartbreaking, right? I remember being those ages those girls were, I remember my daughters being those ages.
“So for me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up, right, because [it] brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.”