Peter Attia is stepping down from his role as a contributor at CBS News after his name appeared in the Epstein files, which showed the extent of the wellness influencer’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Attia resigned on Monday, effective immediately. He was one of a number of contributors who joined CBS News, overhauled by Bari Weiss, in January.
A spokesperson for Attia said his work at the news outlet had barely started before he decided to leave.
“As such, he stepped back to ensure his involvement didn’t become a distraction from the important work being done at CBS,” the spokesperson said. “He wishes the network and its leadership well and has no further comment at this time.”
Attia is one of the latest high-profile figures to face consequences for his ties to Epstein.
After the Justice Department released a massive tranche of the Epstein files late last month, Attia publicly apologized for ever associating himself with the late financier.
“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,” he wrote to his team and patients in an email that was posted on X earlier this month. “I accept that reality and the humiliation that comes with it.”
Attia denied that he was involved in any criminal activity and said his “interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with his sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone.” Also, he claimed to have never been on Epstein’s jet or island and never attended one of his sex parties where minors were often present.
In the DOJ’s publicly available database for the Epstein files, the celebrity doctor’s name appears quite frequently.
In a February 2016 email sent to Epstein, Attia writes, “P**** is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
In a June 2015 email exchange, Attia says, “The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul.” Earlier in the email thread, Attia notes he “got a fresh shipment” of what he later clarified was metformin, an oral medication used to treat type 2 diabetes. Epstein then sent a photo of an adult woman with the words “me too.” The photo is censored in the Epstein files.
“Reading that exchange now is very embarrassing, and I will not defend it,” he said. “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.”
The two first met in 2014 through a female healthcare leader. At one point, Attia asked Epstein directly about his 2008 conviction in Florida and took his response that the charges were merely related to prostitution at face value. The state charges involved procuring a child for prostitution.
“In 2018, I came to learn this was grossly minimized,” Attia said. “I was incredibly naïve to believe him. I mistook his social acceptance in the eyes of the credible people I saw him with for acceptability, and that was a serious error in my judgment. To be clear, I never witnessed illegal behavior and never saw anyone who appeared underage in his presence.”
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Nonetheless, the newly hired contributor decided to resign from CBS News over his appearance in the Epstein files.
Many other corporate figures have experienced significant fallout from the documents, leading to their resignations. Thomas Pritzker announced last week that he retired as the head of Hyatt Hotels and his family’s business empire. And earlier this month, Kathryn Ruemmler announced she will step down from her top legal position at Goldman Sachs by the end of June.