CNN anchor Anderson Cooper confronted billionaire Bill Gates about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, leading to an icy sendoff at the end.
On Wednesday, Gates appeared on CNN to talk about a recent essay he wrote arguing that the AI industry is not admitting the real risks of the technology. However, at the end of the interview, Cooper noted that it was also Gates' first television appearance since his closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee investigating Epstein's crimes.
"What was the extent of your relationship with Epstein?" Cooper asked Gates. "Did you ever interact with any of his victims?"
"Yeah, I really appreciated the opportunity to go in and answer every question that day," Gates responded. "And that's all public. People are curious. I encourage them to look at that. You know, I went through every single meeting, every single email."
Gates insisted, "I didn't have a social relationship" with Epstein, and said he felt "apologetic" about giving Epstein any credibility at all.
"I didn't meet any women through him," Gates said. "I had a misguided view that he could facilitate my raising philanthropic funds for global health. It was a gigantic mistake, which I talk about in my testimony. I really learned from that."
Cooper followed up by saying, "There was a series of graphic, unverified allegations against you that Epstein appears to have written himself in July 2013." Cooper was referring to an email where Epstein "was trying to blackmail you," he told Gates. "Were you aware he was trying to do that?"
"No," Gates quickly responded. "It's complicated enough that really that's where, you know, the -- what is it -- several hundred pages of testimony gets to it, and, you know, I didn't know that he was considering blackmailing me."
Gates said that Epstein "never did blackmail me, but you know it just shows how foolish I was to spend time with him."
When Cooper wrapped up with, "Bill, thanks so much for your time," Gates gave a slight nod but remained tight-lipped. However, the camera stayed on Gates for several silent seconds before cutting back to a frowning Cooper.