Taryn Ryder·Writer, Yahoo EntertainmentMarch 3, 2022, 8:41 AM·3 min readIn this article:

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• Bill GatesAmerican business magnate and philanthropist
• Melinda French GatesAmerican businesswoman and philanthropist

Melinda French Gates opened up about her divorce from Bill Gates for the first time, confirming reports that his relationship with sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, played a role in their split. In an interview that aired on Thursday's CBS Mornings, French Gates told co-host Gayle King it was "not one thing" that caused them to separate after 27 years together.

"It was many things. But I did not like that he'd had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no," said French Gates. "I made that clear to him."

The philanthropist said she met Epstein "exactly one time because I wanted to see who this man was."

"I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards," French Gates added. "My heart breaks for these young women, because that's how I felt, and here I'm an older woman. My god, I feel terrible for those young women. It was awful. He was awful."

"And you shared that with Bill and he still continued to spend time with him?" asked King.

"Any of the questions remaining about what Bill's relationship there, those are for Bill to answer. But I made it very clear how I felt about him," replied French Gates.

In a statement to CBS News, Bill Gates said: "Meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. It was a substantial error in judgment. I remain dedicated to my work at the Gates Foundation in partnership with Melinda, where our focus is to help reduce global inequities, giving every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life."

The Gates's announced they were separating in May 2021, which sent shockwaves around the world.

"I needed to take a different path. And so I think, you know, we knew that when the divorce was gonna be announced that it would be a surprise to people," French Gates told King. "I felt bad about that, but I probably, I didn't have any sense of how big of news it would be. You never, you can't anticipate something like that."

(editor：)