CBS News contributor Peter Attia has spoken out about the crude emails he exchanged with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying he was “ashamed” of his behavior in the latest problem for the network’s editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.
In the latest batch of Epstein-related documents released by the government Friday, Attia, a doctor who focuses on longevity science, was shown to be messaging the disgraced financier years after he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
In one email from February 2016, Attia told Epstein, “P**** is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
Attia, who lives in Austin with his wife and three kids, shared a long apology on X Monday, in which he said he was “not involved in any criminal activity,” but took accountability for some “embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible” emails.
The health influencer specifically referenced an email exchange between him and Epstein from June 2015 titled “Got a fresh shipment.” Attia told Epstein in the thread, “You [sic] the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul…”
Explaining the context of the email, Attia said: “The email contained a photograph of bottles of metformin, a medication I had just received from the pharmacy for my own use. The subject line referred to the picture of the bottles of medication. He replied with the words ‘me too’ and attached a photograph of an adult woman. I responded with crude, tasteless banter.”
“Reading that exchange now is very embarrassing, and I will not defend it. I’m ashamed of myself for everything about this. At the time, I understood this exchange as juvenile, not a reference to anything dark or harmful,” Attia said.
Attia was announced as one of 19 new contributors to CBS News just days before the emails between him and Epstein were revealed. An unnamed source told the New York Post that, as of Monday evening, network executives were considering whether to strip Attia of his new position.
The Independent has reached out to CBS News for comment.
Attia’s vulgar message exchanges with Epstein, who stood accused of the sex trafficking of minors when he died by suicide in his New York jail cell in 2019, have piled on more bad press for Weiss.
Weiss, who founded the anti-woke news site The Free Press, recently sparked backlash over her decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment about Venezuelan migrants sent from the U.S. to the infamous El Salvadorian prison CECOT.
“Holy f***ing dumpster fire,” one CBS News employee told The Independent in reaction to the last-minute switch-up.
CBS Evening News host Tony Dokoupil, who was recently chosen to lead the program under Weiss’s leadership, has also been criticized. One network staffer told The Independent that Dokoupil has turned the program into “state TV.”
