Microsoftco-founder and former CEOBill Gates has repeatedly said he regretseverinteractingwithconvicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a newinterviewonABC Australia's 7.30, acurrent affairs program,he downplayed his ties tothe financier, who reportedlydied by suicide in jail in 2019.
"Iwill say for the, you know, over hundredthtime, yeah I shouldn't have had dinners with him," Gates said.
What To Know: The live TVinterviewon ABC Australiahasgone viral. Several users across social platforms like Twitter are highlightingthe way Gates downplayed therelationship.
ABC host Sarah Fergusoncontinued to pressthe billionaire philanthropistwith questions about his relationship with Epstein, even afterhe noted that he had answered similar questions numeroustimes.
"Epstein had a way of sexually compromising people. Is that what Melinda was warning you about?" Ferguson asked.
"No, I mean …noI had dinner with him and thats all," Gates said.
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Ferguson then went on to ask Gates to confirm that he regrettedthe "relationship" or "acquaintance" and he repliedthat he regretted having"dinner with him," suggesting arelationship didn't existbeyond a few dinner dates.
When the ABC anchor mentioned potential tiesbetween Epstein and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,he adamantly denied it.
"There never was any relationship of any kind," he said.
In a 2019 interview with CNN,Gates explained that he only met with Epstein to try to secure fundingto help fightglobal health issues.
"I had several dinners with him, you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health, through contacts that he had, might emerge.When it looked like that wasnt a real thing, that relationship ended,"Gates said.
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Epstein was indicted inJuly 2019 oncharges of operating a sex trafficking ring that resulted in thesexual abuse of severalunderage girls.He was found dead in a New York City jail cell one month later, which was ultimately ruled a suicide.
There are several conspiracy theories about what happened in Epstein's final moments. Despite having diednearly four years ago, theghost of Epstein still finds a way to make eerie headlines to this day.
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