Melinda French Gates blasts justice system over Epstein: 'It could have been stopped'

Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates says Jeffrey Epstein should never have been able to do what he did, arguing that the American justice system failed at every turn.

In an interview with The Guardian, French Gates delivered a blunt verdict on how authorities handled the late financier and sex offender. "The justice system didn't do its job," she said. "It did not do its job. Full stop. This could have been stopped."

She tied the failure to a broader moment of accountability now playing out in public. A reckoning is finally underway, she argued, and the lesson is that protecting children requires a justice system that actually works.

The interview ran just days after her ex-husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, was questioned about his own ties to Epstein during a closed-door hearing of the House Oversight Committee.

In his opening remarks, according to the report, Gates told lawmakers that Epstein had tried to blackmail him using explicit details about his private life, including his extramarital affairs. Gates said Epstein worked to manufacture an air of legitimacy by surrounding himself with powerful and respected people, and maintained that he never saw any sign Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal activity.

French Gates, for her part, said she crossed paths with Epstein only once, and that the encounter left her with nightmares. She described an instinctive sense that something was deeply wrong with him, and said people should trust those gut reactions about who they're dealing with.

Calling Epstein an abhorrent man, she acknowledged the subject is a painful one for her and said her sympathy lies with the young girls he harmed. Epstein died in jail while facing accusations that he sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls.

The interview also touched on French Gates's current focus. She has been pushing for more women to move into positions of power and recently committed $215 million toward women's health initiatives, framing women as the foundation of both families and society.

French Gates divorced Gates in 2021 after 27 years of marriage and later stepped away from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue what she called the next chapter of her philanthropy.