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Melinda Gates calls Epstein 'evil personified', says she had nightmares after she met him

In an exclusive interview with 'CBS Mornings' anchor Gayle King, Melinda said 'I wanted to see who this man was. I regretted it from the minute I stepped in the door.'

Melinda French Gates has said that her trust was “broken” during her marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, which eventually led to her divorce. In an exclusive interview with 'CBS Mornings' anchor Gayle King, Melinda reflected on her “journey of healing” following her divorce. 

Melinda and Bill split in May 2021 after being married for as many as 27 years. She said that after their split, there would be days when she felt angry. “That’s part of the grieving process,” she said. “You’re grieving a loss of something you thought you had and thought you had for your lifetime.” In the television interview, Melinda has spoken publicly for the first time since her divorce.

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“I mean, this is painful stuff,” Melinda said. “And at the end of the day, though, I started on this journey of healing, and I feel like I’m starting to get to the other side. And I do feel like I’m turning a page in the chapter now. I mean, it’s 2022, and I’m actually really excited about what’s to come and life ahead for me.”

When King asked Melinda about her husband having had a an affair back in 2000, she said, "I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that. It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t trust what we had. “Once trust is broken, isn’t it hard to get it back?” King, 67, asked Gates, to which she replied, "Very, it’s very hard to get it back, in any relationship."

Melinda on Bill and Epstein

News of the pair's split came after there were reports that Melinda was furious over Bill's ties to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. She was reportedly enraged that Bill’s money manager sexually harassed women. The Gates reportedly met Epstein in his Upper East Side Mansion in New York City back in 2013. The day they met with Epstein was the same day the couple accepted the Lasker Bloomberg Public Service Award at Pierre Hotel. But sources close to the couple claim Melinda was furious at the budding relationship between her husband and the now-dead ex-financier. The meeting then ended up being a turning point for the Gates-Epstein relationship as Melinda reportedly told friends how uncomfortable she felt in Epstein's company and how she wanted nothing to do with him.

Friends of the couple had earlier said that Bill's alleged friendship with Epstein still haunts Melinda. The disgraced financier was accused of sexually abusing numerous underage girls and died in his prison cell by alleged suicide in August 2019, while he was awaiting sentencing for these crimes. Bill was among the many prominent people in power who faced scrutiny after Epstein was arrested in 2019. The New York Times had revealed at the time that starting 2011, which was already three years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor, Bill met with him on numerous occasions, including a get together at the sex offender's Manhattan townhouse.

Talking about meeting Epstein, Melinda said on the TV show, "I wanted to see who this man was. I regretted it from the minute I stepped in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. So 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 them."

Bill's visits to Epstein continued well up to 2013, between which The NYT had alleged that Epstein had tried pitching a new charitable fund to the Gates Foundation, and Bill also allegedly took a ride on Epstein's infamous private jet — the Lolita Express — in 2013. CNBC had also reported about Bill's 2013 New York rendezvous with Epstein. However, amid media's close scrutiny of his ties with Epstein, Bill claimed in September 2019, “I met him. I didn’t have any business relationship or friendship with him." However, reports of the two's alleged friendship fizzled by 2014 after Bill donated $2M to MIT's Media Lab.