Melinda French Gates responds to latest Bill Gates allegations in Epstein files

In a preview of an interview set to air Thursday on NPR's Wild Card podcast, Melinda French Gates addressed the latest documents released from the Justice Department's investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which include new references to her ex-husband, Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The philanthropist told host Rachel Martin that her reaction was one of "unbelievable sadness," according to the video clip posted by NPR.

"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," French Gates said. "No girl. It's just beyond heartbreaking."

French Gates, who finalized her divorce from Gates in 2021, said the details in the latest files brought back memories of "some very, very painful times" of her marriage.

"Whatever questions remain there ... those questions are for those people, and for even my ex-husband," she said. "They need to answer to those things, not me."

A spokesperson for Gates has denied the latest allegations, calling them "absolutely absurd and completely false."

"I am so happy to be away from all the muck that was there," French Gates said, adding that she felt she "had to leave" her marriage and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. French Gates has previously said that her ex-husband's association with Epstein was one factor of many that led her to seek divorce.

"I'm able to take my own sadness and look at those young girls and say, 'my God, how did that happen to those girls'?" she told NPR. "At least for me, I've been able to move on in life, and I hope there's some justice for those now-women."

Asked by ABC about the latest Justice Department disclosure, a spokesperson for Bill Gates said, "These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. 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."

Three million pages from the DOJ's files on Epsteinwere being releasedto the public, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday.

Blanche said in total there were 6 million pages of Epstein documents in the DOJ's files, but that nearly 3 million pages were being withheld for various reasons including the presence of child sexual abuse material and the obligation to protect victims' rights.