Topics: Bill Gates, Jeffrey Epstein, US News, News, Business, Microsoft
Melinda Gates has spoken out after the latest batch of Epstein files claimed her ex-husband Bill Gates ‘caught an STD from Russian girls and tried to secretly slip his wife antibiotics’.
Microsoft co-founder Gates was named in documents which were made public by the US Department of Justice last week.
They include drafted emails that Jeffrey Epstein addressed to himself, accusing Gates of contracting an STD from 'Russian girls' before requesting Epstein's 'help'.
A drafted message dated July 18, 2013, read: "To add insult to the injury you then subsequently with tears in your eyes, 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."
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A spokesperson for Gates has called claims in the emails 'absolutely absurd and completely false'.
In a statement to LADbible Group, they said: "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."
While being named or pictured in the files doesn't suggest any wrongdoing, Melinda - who split from Gates in 2021 after 27 years of marriage - has now responded to the allegations.
During an appearance on NPR's Wild Card podcast, 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'.
Melinda added: "They need to answer to those things, not me."
The philanthropist 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."
Back in 2013, a report in the Wall Street Journal claimed that Epstein had been attempting to 'blackmail' Gates, referring to an alleged relationship with a Russian bridge player.
Gates himself is alleged to have met with Epstein on multiple occasions, and has called his association with the convicted sex offender a 'huge mistake'.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in 2025, Gates said: "He sort of got time with various people by spending time with other people.
"So yes, I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that and it was just a huge mistake."
