Peter Attia, a longevity influencer and former health researcher, resigned from his post as a CBS contributor Monday after his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
Attia was one of several contributors brought on by newly installed CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Attia is the author of “Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity” and has appeared multiple times on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” His name appeared in more than 1,700 documents in the files released Jan. 30.
“Dr. Attia’s contributor role was newly established and had not yet meaningfully begun,” a spokesman for Attia told the New York Times Monday. “As such, he stepped back to ensure his involvement didn’t become a distraction from the important work being done at CBS. He wishes the network and its leadership well and has no further comment at this time.”
Per the files, Attia’s relationship with Epstein appears to have begun in 2015. That was years after Epstein pled guilty to prostitution charges involving a minor in 2008.
“You [know] the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul,” Attia wrote to Epstein in 2015.
Their correspondence stopped in late 2018, around the same time a Miami Herald exposé leveled further sex crimes accusations against Epstein.
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In a statement posted to X, Attia addressed the comment saying it was not an admission of knowing about Epstein’s criminal activities.
“What I was referring to, poorly and flippantly, was 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 wrote.
Attia said his relationship with Epstein began in 2014 through a “prominent female healthcare leader.” Attia also stepped down as chief science officer at protein bar company David following the release of the files.
“The man I am today, roughly ten years later, would not write them and would not associate with Epstein at all,” he wrote. “Whatever growth I’ve had over the past decade does not erase the emails I wrote then.”
