CBS News contributor exits after Epstein link
Attia said they met while he was seeking funding
By: Taijuan Mororman
USA Today
..... Doctor and controversial wellness guru Peter Attia is exiting CBS News after his ties to Jeffery Epstein have come to light.
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In a statement to USA Today on February 23, [2026] Attia's spokesperson said his "contributor role was newly established and had not yet meaningfully begun."
..... "As such, he stepped back to ensure his involvement didn't become a distraction from the important work being done at CBS," the statement said. "He wishes the network and its leadership well and has no further comment at this time."
..... The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news. USA today has reached out to CBS for comment.
..... The Epstein files were releases without context, and the allegations within have not been independently confirmed by USA Today.
..... In the latest files released by the Justice Department on January 30, [2026] documents that involved Attia showed crude exchanges between Attia and the convicted six offender about female genitalia, and emails that suggest the self-proclaimed longevity expert may have been with Epstein while his wife was alone with their son in the hospital after a near-fatal incident.
..... Previously, in a lengthy February 2 [2026] apology on X addressing his communications with Epstein, Attia said he was not "involved in any criminal activity" and had nothing to do with the convicted predator;s 'sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone." He said he met Epstein, who at the time was "widely known in academic and philanthropic circles as a funder of science" in 2014 through "a prominent female healthcare leader while I was raising funds for scientific research."
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Attia said the pair met seven or eight times at Epstein's Ne York City home to discuss research studies and network. Still, he said, "I apologize and regret putting myself in a position where emails, some of them embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible, are now public, and that is on me."
..... Epstein, who pleated guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution and was accused of overseeing a global sex-trafficking network, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.
..... His associate, Ghislaina Maxwell, was convicted of similar charges and is serving a 30-year sentence in federal prison.
..... Emails note an appointment between Attia and an unknown associate on Joelly 13, 2017. while emails between Epstein and his longtime assistant and planner Leslie Groff confirm a meeting with Attia for the same afternoon.
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The dates are near the time of an incident Attia wrote about in his 2022 book "Outlive," in which he admonishes himself for not being by h8is wife and son's side after the month-old baby suddenly stopped breathing on July 11, 2017.
..... "I had received a call form Jill, my wife. She was in an ambulance with our infant son ... on the way to the hospital," Attia wrote. "for some reason he had suddenly stopped breathing and fallen unconscious. His eyes were completely rolled back in their sockets, and he was lifeless and blue, with no heartbeat."
..... His son had begun breathing a short time later, but was still being held in the hospital for four days, all the while his wife "pleaded with me to come home. I called in daily to talk to the doctors and discuss each day's test results, but I stayed in New York, busy with my, quote, important work."
..... He added: "I feel nauseous about my behavior. I can't believe I did that to my family. I can't believe what a blind, selfish, checked out husband and father I was."
..... Contributing: Pamela Avila and Josh Meyer, USA Today