Melinda French Gates has issued a heartbreaking response to allegations that her ex-husband contracted an STD and attempted to secretly administer her medication to treat it, with the shocking claims being made by Jeffrey Epstein revealed in the latest release of emails.
Convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was acquainted with many of the world's most powerful figures, and a number of those have been named so far in files relating to his federal conviction, including Donald Trump and Prince Andrew.
Among those names too is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who is mentioned on several occasions, including one horrifying allegation that involved the tech giant's ex-wife Melinda.
In what appears to be a drafted resignation letter to the Gates Foundation – of which there's no record of Epstein ever working for the charity – the disgraced financier alleged that Gates had caught an STD from 'Russian girls', and that he had helped the Microsoft co-founder obtain drugs to treat the illness.
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A subsequent email then claimed: "To add insult to injury you then subsequently with tears in your eyes, implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda, and the description of your penis."
Melinda Gates has noted in the past that her divorce was at least partially due to meetings Bill had conducted with Epstein, yet these claims have left many shocked and horrified.
A spokesperson for Bill Gates has denied these allegations in a statement to the BBC, arguing that they are "from a proven, disgruntled liar," and that "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."
Melinda has since had her own opportunity to response to the allegations, revealing her feelings when speaking on NPR's Wild Card with Rachel Martin.
When asked simply what she would say in response to the recently released emails, Melinda French Gates asserted:
"I think we're having a reckoning as a society, right? No girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him.
"It's beyond heartbreaking, right? I remember being those ages those girls were. I remember my daughters being those ages, right? So, for me it's personally hard whenever those details come up, because [it] brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage."
She declared, however, that she has "moved on from that," noting that she "purposely pushed it away and I moved on. I'm in a really unexpected, beautiful place in my life, so whatever questions remain there of what I can't even being to know all of it, those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer those things, not me."
When asked directly by Martin what her emotion is when she read specifically about her husband's alleged STD and claims that he attempted to secretly administer her medication, she illustrated that she felt "sad, just unbelievable sad," adding:
"I had to leave my marriage, I wanted to leave my marriage. I felt I needed to eventually leave the Foundation. So it's just sad. That's the truth, right? And for me, I've been able to move on in my life, and I hope there's some justice for those women."