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(NEXSTAR) – In a candid interview with Australia’s 9News, Bill Gates expressed remorse over his association with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. Gates admitted to regretting his past interactions with Epstein, stating he wished he had never crossed paths with him.
The 70-year-old Microsoft co-founder spoke with Charles Croucher from 9News, following the release of new documents by the U.S. Department of Justice from the so-called Epstein files. Gates’ name is mentioned in these documents, which include emails containing unverified claims regarding his conduct with women.
During the interview, Gates clarified that his encounters with Epstein were limited to dinners, as he was under the impression that Epstein might be interested in contributing to the Gates Foundation.
“It’s accurate to say my interactions were strictly at dinners,” Gates explained. “I never visited the island nor did I meet any women. As more information emerges, it will become evident that while associating with him was an error, it wasn’t related to such misconduct.”
Gates further remarked, “Spending time with him was a mistake. I am among many who regret ever having known him.”
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9News’ interview with Gates was published Wednesday, only one day after NPR reported that Melinda French Gates, his ex-wife, had remarked that Gates needs to “answer” for allegations made by Epstein in 2013 email drafts.
In the documents, Epstein suggested he facilitated “illicit trysts” for Gates, who had engaged in “sex with Russian girls” and “married women.” He also claimed that Gates asked him to procure medication for an STI, and alleged that Gates had intended to “surreptitiously” provide the medication to French Gates.
“Whatever questions remain there of what I don’t — I can’t even begin to know all of it — those questions are for those people and even my ex-husband,” French Gates said on an upcoming episode of NPR’s “Wild Card With Rachel Martin” podcast. “They need to answer to those things, not me. And I am so happy to be away from all the muck that was there.”
French Gates also said she had moved on from memories of “very, very painful times” in her marriage, but still feels “unbelievable sadness” for anyone allegedly victimized by Epstein or others.
A spokesperson for Bill Gates has previously called the allegations made in Epstein’s 2013 emails “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,” a spokesperson for Gates told Nexstar in an emailed statement on Tuesday.