Melinda French Gates is speaking out about the emotional toll of explosive allegations involving her ex-husband that resurfaced in the latest release of Jeffrey Epstein–related documents, saying the revelations left her feeling “unbelievable sadness.”
In a candid interview with NPR host Rachel Martin on the podcast Wild Card, Melinda French Gates addressed reports tied to draft emails written by Jeffrey Epstein that claimed Bill Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted infection following alleged encounters with “Russian girls” and sought antibiotics he could secretly give to his wife.
Gates, now 70, has forcefully denied the allegations, calling them completely false. Still, for French Gates, 61, seeing the claims circulated publicly reopened old wounds.
Asked how it felt to read coverage of the Epstein files, she said her overwhelming reaction was sadness. “Just unbelievable sadness,” she told Martin. She explained that the details were personally painful, saying they brought back memories of “very, very painful times” in her marriage. “I left my marriage, I had to leave my marriage, I wanted to leave my marriage,” she said.
French Gates and Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. He has previously acknowledged that meeting with Epstein was “a huge mistake,” while she has said his association with the disgraced financier played a role in her decision to leave.
In a 2022 interview, French Gates said she made it clear she was deeply uncomfortable with her then-husband’s interactions with Epstein. She also described the only time she met Epstein herself, calling the experience disturbing. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified,” she said at the time, adding that she had nightmares afterward.
In the Wild Card interview, French Gates said she is now grateful to be removed from that chapter of her life. “I’m so happy to be away from all of the muck,” she said, stressing that questions raised by the Epstein files are not hers to answer. “Those are for those people — and for even my ex-husband — they need to answer to those things, not me.”
She also shifted focus to the alleged victims connected to Epstein, calling their experiences “beyond heartbreaking.” “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,” she said. Looking at the young women mentioned in the documents, she added that she hopes there will be justice for those who have testified. “At least I’ve been able to move on in life. What they went through is just unimaginable.”
The renewed attention comes as the Department of Justice continues releasing millions of pages of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Among them are two draft emails Epstein wrote to himself in 2013, allegedly on behalf of Boris Nikolic, a former science adviser to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The drafts included graphic and unverified claims about Gates’ health and alleged sexual behavior, as well as assertions about attempts to erase messages and arrange antibiotics.
There is no evidence the emails were ever sent or that Nikolic endorsed their contents. A spokesperson for Bill Gates strongly denied the allegations, saying they are “absolutely absurd and completely false,” and argued the documents only show Epstein’s frustration over not having an ongoing relationship with Gates.
The full Wild Card interview with Melinda French Gates is scheduled to be released Thursday.