Melinda French Gates, 61, recalled meeting Jeffrey Epstein for the first time in 2013 at his New York townhouse alongside ex-husband Bill Gates, according to a profile published in The Guardian on Saturday, June 13. During the interview with journalist Sophie McBain, Melinda said, "My heart's racing," and asked, "Have you ever in your life been around somebody that you just know is evil?" She described Epstein as a "horrid man" and "an abhorrent human being," and criticized the "justice system" for "not doing its job," stating, "This could have been stopped." Melinda, who divorced Bill Gates in 2021 after 27 years of marriage, said the breakdown stemmed from Bill's infidelity and his friendship with Epstein, adding, "I did not like that [Bill] had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein." In a previous 2022 CBS interview, she said of meeting Epstein, "I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door" and "I had nightmares about [the encounter] afterwards." Bill Gates stated in his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee on June 10 that he met Epstein in 2011, claiming, "I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone." Epstein died in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center after committing suicide.