CBS News’ newest “star” contributor issued a lengthy statement riddled with justifications—and contradictions—regarding his once-close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Peter Attia, who joined the ranks of Bari Weiss’ MAGA-curious CBS News last week, had remained silent after being named nearly 2,000 times in the latest tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice on Friday. But on Monday, the self-styled “longevity expert” said his decision to maintain ties with Epstein until he was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges—and later died by suicide in 2019—was because he was starstruck.
That explanation, however, does not align with dozens of emails between the pair released by the DOJ, which portray two men joking playfully about women, exchanging compliments, and alluding to a close friendship. What’s more, time stamps revealed Attia opted to meet with Epstein in New York while he ignored his wife’s plea to come to the hospital where their infant son was being treated in 2017.
In his apology-turned-explanation, Attia, 52, claimed he met Epstein at most eight times. He claimed he did not engage in any criminal activity, nor did he visit Epstein’s private island. A 2016 email, however, shows Attia writing to the sex trafficker that he needed to “visit sometime.”
Attia described being awed by Epstein’s elite social connections, his private plane, and his ownership of “the largest home in all of Manhattan.” He said it was ultimately Epstein’s lavish lifestyle that swayed him to overlook the disgraced financier’s 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution—charges he said Epstein downplayed at the time as “prostitution-related charges.”
“At that point in my career, I had little exposure to prominent people, and that level of access was novel to me. Everything about him seemed excessive and exclusive,” Attia wrote in an X post.
“In retrospect, the presence and credibility of such venerable people in different orbits led me to make assumptions about him that clouded my judgment in ways it shouldn’t have.”
According to Attia, it was only after reading the bombshell November 2018 Miami Herald investigation by Julie K. Brown identifying 80 of Epstein’s victims that he reconsidered his judgment.
“In 2018, I came to learn [his charges were] grossly minimized,” he said. “I was incredibly naïve to believe him. I mistook his social acceptance in the eyes of the credible people I saw him with for acceptability, and that was a serious error in my judgment.”
Yet correspondence from Attia to Epstein in December 2018 portrays him as a concerned friend following the article’s publication.
“What is fallout from recent story?” Attia asked Epstein. “Legally any change?”
Epstein responded: “same as usual, just tougher.”
Earlier emails also undermine Attia’s account. In June 2015—seven years after Epstein’s first arrest and four years before his federal sex-trafficking arrest—Attia gushed that the “worst” part about being Epstein’s friend was that “the life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul.”
In his explanation, Attia claimed he meant “the discretion commanded by those social and professional circles–the idea that you don’t talk about who you meet, the dinners you attend and the power and influence of the people in those settings.” He acknowledged that it “reads terribly.”
Attia also noted that he responded with “crude, tasteless banter” when Epstein emailed him a photo of a naked woman that same year. “At the time, I understood this exchange as juvenile, not a reference to anything dark or harmful,” he wrote.
In 2016, Attia wrote to Epstein, “P---y is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
Critics have described Attia as a “wellness grifter,” likening him to a snake-oil salesman-turned-podcaster who offers longevity advice through a $2,500 subscription service despite having only limited formal medical training.
Attia is among several controversial figures recently introduced by Weiss as contributors intended to elevate the network. The Wrap reported Monday that CBS is expected to cut ties with the anti-aging influencer over his dealings with Epstein. The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS for clarification.
Attia’s name was also scrubbed from the David Protein website’s “expert” section, where he is a major investor and is serving as chief science officer.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Attia for comment. On the CBS contributor’s website, it reads: “We rarely accept media requests but before a member of our media team will review your request, we require your acknowledgement of the following two guidelines: We get final approval before anything goes to print [and] we never discuss our clients or our price model.”
It is widely considered unethical in the media industry to grant an interview subject pre-approval quotes used for publication.
