Wellness influencer Peter Attia is leaving his CBS News contributor role after his previous correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein was made public.
Attia, a celebrity doctor known for social media content, “stepped back to ensure his involvement didn’t become a distraction from the important work being done at CBS,” a spokesman for Attia said in a statement. “He wishes the network and its leadership well and has no further comment at this time.”
The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news.
A cache of documents released earlier this month by the Justice Department contain emails between Attia and the convicted sex offender where they exchanged crude jokes, made meeting arrangements and more.
Most of the emails are from the mid-2010s — after Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 on a child prostitution charge but before the allegations that led to his second arrest were reported. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
After the emails were released, CBS pulled a rerun of a “60 Minutes” segment that featured Attia.
Attia attempted to explain the situation in a lengthy social media post on Feb. 2.
His “interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with his sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone,” he wrote.
“I was not involved in any criminal activity…never on his plane, never on his island, and never present at any sex parties.”
“That said, 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. I accept that reality and the humiliation that comes with it,” he added.
Attia was hired by CBS News in January.
