‘Shouldn’t have had dinners with him’

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates continued to downplay his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, claiming for the “100th time” they were merely dinner pals. 

Australia’s “ABC 7.30” host Sarah Ferguson noted during an interview with Gates on Monday “one of the issues that dogged” his relationship to ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, was his ties to Epstein.

Ferguson asked, “Do you regret the relationship that you maintained with him against Melinda’s advice and wishes?” 

Gates told Ferguson she was going “way back in time” before shrugging and answering the question.

“I will say for the over a 100th time, yeah, I shouldn’t have had dinners with him,” Gates said. 

The “ABC 7.30” host wasn’t finished, informing Gates that “Epstein had a way of sexually compromising” people. 

“Is that what Melinda was warning you about?” Ferguson asked.

“No, I mean, no, I had dinner with him and that’s all,” Gates said. 

Ferguson pressed, asking if Gates regrets the relationship. 

“That I had dinner with him,” Gates said, further implying the relationship was simply dinner. 

Gates then rejected the notion that Gates’ foundation and Epstein were connected.  

“There never was any relationship of any kind,” he said. 

In 2021, Gates was confronted by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff about the same topic and the billionaire gave similar answers. 

Woodruff began the exchange by confronting Gates about the “number of meetings” he had with the shady billionaire, who at the time was already found guilty of soliciting prostitution from minors. 

“What did you know about him when you were meeting with him, as you said yourself, in the hopes of raising money?” Woodruff asked. 

“You know, I had dinners with him. I regret doing that,” Gates responded. “He had relationships with people he said, you know, would give to global health, which is an interest I have. You know, not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction.”

“Those meetings were a mistake. They didn’t result in what he purported and I cut them off. You know, that goes back a long time ago now, so there’s nothing new on that,” Gates added. 

Woodruff continued grilling the Big Tech giant, asking him what he did when he “found out about his background.”

“You know, I’ve said I regretted having those dinners,” Gates told Woodruff. “And there’s nothing – absolutely nothing new on that.”

Gates previously said he had met with Epstein in the hopes that the financier would donate toward Gates’ “goal of raising money for global health” in a 2021 interview with NBC News. 

“I didn’t realize that the meeting with him almost downplayed the incredibly awful things he did,” Gates said. “I’ve learned more about that over time, but I add that to the list of big mistakes.”

His former wife has said she made it “clear” to the Microsoft honcho that she “did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.” She said she also met with the multi-millionaire once, but regretted it.

“I wanted to see who this man was, and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door,” she told CBS in 2021. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. My heart breaks for these young women.”

Epstein died at age 66 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was found hanged to death inside a Manhattan federal jail cell on August 10, 2019. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to soliciting a prostitute who was a minor. 

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.