'Painful times in my marriage' - Melinda French Gates reacts to ex-husband in Epstein files

8 hours agoChristal HayesAFP via Getty ImagesBillionaire 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. Two emails from 18 July 2013 appear to have been drafted by Epstein, but it is unclear if they were ever sent to Gates. Both were sent from Epstein's email account and back to the same account, while no email account associated with Gates is visible and both emails are unsigned.One email is written as a resignation letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and complains about having had to procure medicine for Bill "to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls".The other, which begins "dear Bill", complains about Bill Gates having ended a friendship and makes more claims about Bill Gates having tried to cover up a sexually transmitted infection, including from his then-wife, Melinda.Over the years, Bill Gates and his representatives have downplayed his connection with Epstein. He has previously said they only had "several dinners" to discuss a philanthropy project that did not happen. After the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Bill Gates said: "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."Many of the documents, emails and photos included in the millions of files released by the justice department last week shed light on Epstein's vast network of celebrities, business chiefs and world leaders - contacts that persisted in some cases even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial in a sex-trafficking case.