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By Gabe Whisnant
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Melinda French Gates is speaking publicly after newly released Justice Department documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein referenced her ex-husband, Bill Gates.
In a recent NPR interview, French Gates addressed the broader impact of Epstein’s abuse and the powerful men connected to him, while reflecting cautiously on the renewed scrutiny.
“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,” French Gates said on NPR's Wild Card podcast.
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"Whatever questions remain there—I 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," she said.
French Gates also said the files bring to mind "memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage. But I have moved on from that. I purposely pushed it away, and I moved on."
The new materials include drafts attributed to Epstein making unverified claims, which a spokesperson for Bill Gates has called false.
A spokesperson for Bill Gates told Newsweek via email, “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. 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.”
When Did Melinda and Bill Gates Get Divorced?
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates announced their decision to divorce in May 2021, ending a 27‑year marriage that had made them one of the most prominent couples in business and global philanthropy. The divorce was finalized later that year, and the former spouses said at the time that they would continue working together at their foundation despite the split. They share three adult children. She later stepped away from her role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to focus on her own philanthropic work, Pivotal Ventures.
An interview where French Gates spoke about Jeffrey Epstein and his meetings with her ex-husband resurfaced on social media following the latest release of files.
A clip from French Gates' 2022 interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, discussing her divorce and Bill Gates' interactions with Epstein, was shared on Threads by @danisha_e and @tim.watson.threads. Both posts have gone viral, amassing 869,000 views and 378,000 views, respectively, since they were shared in the past few days.
In the 2022 interview, French Gates said: “I did not like that he (Bill Gates) had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein…I made that clear to him.” She later went on to describe the only time she’d met Epstein, saying: “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards.”
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When Were the Epstein Files Released?
The latest tranche of documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein was released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The release, which the DOJ said is the final version, included more than 3 million pages of records, along with thousands of videos and images, following months of review and redaction. DOJ officials said the disclosures were part of a rolling process that began in late 2025. The department has acknowledged that some materials were temporarily removed due to redaction errors being addressed.
In the January release, records attributed to Epstein contain drafts of 2013 emails in which Epstein wrote about Gates, including unverified claims about extramarital sexual encounters and a sexually transmitted infection, and discussed obtaining antibiotics that would be given discreetly to Gates’s then-wife, Melinda French Gates. It remains unclear whether the draft emails were ever sent to Gates or anyone else, and the department has not indicated that the content was verified as factual.
Mentions of Gates, like other high-profile names in the files, reflect the broader investigative materials collected over years of probes into Epstein’s network rather than charges or findings of wrongdoing.
Gates’ representatives have vehemently denied the allegations contained in the documents, calling them “absolutely absurd and completely false” and attributing them to Epstein’s own efforts to defame individuals after their association ended.
More documents relating to the Epstein files are set to be released.
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Jay Clayton, said in a court filing on Saturday that Judge Analisa Torres had authorized the DOJ to publicly disclose transcripts and exhibits from grand jury proceedings in the case of the U.S. vs. Tova Noel and Michael Thomas—two prison guards on shift the night Epstein died by suicide in his cell in 2019.
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Who Has Been Mentioned in the Epstein Files?
The documents reference a wide range of prominent figures from politics, business, royalty and entertainment, although inclusion in the files does not indicate wrongdoing. Among the names that appear are President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, tech executives, foreign dignitaries and celebrities who had varying degrees of contact with Epstein or are mentioned in internal communications.
Many of those referenced have denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes. The Justice Department has said the material includes unverified claims and raw investigative leads, and no new prosecutions have resulted from the disclosures.
Where to View the Epstein Files
The Epstein files are publicly available through an online repository maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice, known as the Epstein Library. The database hosts court records, investigative documents, images, and other materials organized across multiple datasets released under the transparency law. The DOJ has warned that the massive volume of material can make searching difficult and that additional redactions may occur. Officials said the site will be updated if more documents are identified for release.
Update 2/3/26, 12:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 2/3/26, 1:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 2/3/26, 4:44 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 2/3/26, 7:44 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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