Melinda French Gates Nervously Recalls Meeting 'Evil' Jeffrey Epstein for the First Time: 'My Heart Was Racing'

Melinda French Gates had a hard time looking back on meeting s-- trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for the first time in a new interview.

The philanthropist, 61, broke down in a profile for The Guardian that was published on Saturday, June 13, about encountering the financier in 2013 at his New York townhouse alongside ex-husband Bill Gates.

Melinda noted she had bad feeling about the pedophile, who died in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center after committing suicide in his jail cell.

"My heart's racing," she nervously said during the interview done with journalist Sophie McBain. "Have you ever in your life been around somebody that you just know is evil?"

“We need to listen to our feelings about people,” she sighed. "Any woman who has ever been around somebody who is evil or had an experience and then if you're around somebody else who is evil. Just no, no."

According to Sophie, Melinda attempted to end the interview after she became visibly distressed.

The billionaire divorced the Microsoft founder, 70, in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. She also told the publication the breakdown of her marriage stemmed from Bill's infidelity and his friendship with Jeffrey.

She then labeled Jeffrey as a "horrid man" and "an abhorrent human being" before bashing the "justice system" for "not doing its job" as she advocated for survivors. "This could have been stopped," Melinda said. "My heart goes out to the young girls."

Melinda previously looked back on meeting Jeffrey in a 2022 CBS interview.

"I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door," she said. "He was abhorrent. He was evil personified."

"I did not like that [Bill] had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no," she continued. "I had nightmares about [the encounter] afterwards. So, you know, my heart breaks for these young women, because that's how I felt, and here I'm an older woman. My god, I feel terrible for those young women. It was awful."

Bill stated he met the Palm Beach businessman in 2011 in his opening statement he gave to the House Oversight Committee on June 10.

“I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone,” he said. “While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated," the billionaire claimed.