Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates has said her ex-husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, being named in new files relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein dredged up 'painful times in my marriage'.
She told an NPR podcast she feels 'unbelievable sadness' about the Epstein allegations and that the people named in the records, including her former husband, need to answer to it.
'I am so happy to be away from all the muck,' she said. The couple divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
Records released by the US justice department include an allegation by Epstein that Bill Gates caught a sexually transmitted disease. He has called the claim 'absolutely absurd'.
'These claims – from a proven, disgruntled liar – are absolutely absurd and completely false,' a spokesperson for Bill Gates has said about the allegations. The BBC has contacted his representatives about his ex-wife's comments.
Bill Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein's victims and his name being included in the files does not imply criminal activity of any kind.
In the interview with NPR's Wild Card podcast, Melinda French Gates said: 'For me, it's personally hard whenever those details come up, right? Because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.'
She added: 'Whatever questions remain there of what - 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.'
US media have reported that before their separation, Melinda French Gates had been upset about her husband's association with Epstein. After their split was announced, Bill Gates acknowledged having had an affair with a Microsoft employee in 2019.
The allegations about Bill Gates were included in more than three million documents released last week by the US Department of Justice.
Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in a sex-trafficking case.
