By Helen Coster
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia has stepped aside as a contributor to CBS News, a network spokesperson said on Monday, roughly three weeks after his emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public.
Attia's name appears more than 1,700 times in the trove of 3 million documents released as part of the Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30.
"Dr. Attia's contributor role was newly established and had not yet meaningfully
begun. As such, he stepped back to ensure his involvement didn't become a distraction from the important work being done at CBS. He wishes the network and its leadership well and has no further comment at this time," a spokesperson for Attia said.
On January 27, Attia was named a CBS contributor as part of Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss' strategy to restructure operations by adding 19 new contributors and bring a "streaming mentality" to the network. CBS is owned by Paramount Skydance.
Attia appeared in an October segment of the CBS show "60 Minutes" and was described as "both a pioneer and a star in the growing field of longevity medicine."
In a February 2 post on X, Attia denied he was involved in criminal activity. But he apologized and said he was "ashamed" by the Epstein emails, which included "crude, tasteless banter".
In one 2015 note, Attia said, "The biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can't tell a soul..."
In a 2016 email, Attia said, using Epstein's initials, "I go into JE withdrawal when I don't see him."
Epstein, a multimillionaire who socialized with the elite, was convicted in 2008 on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He died by suicide in 2019.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported news of Attia's break with CBS News.
Attia experienced previous fallout from the Epstein disclosures. On February 2, he stepped down as chief science officer of protein-bar company David Protein, the company's founder wrote on X. Attia was an investor in David Protein and participated in its $10 million seed funding round in August 2024.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Ethan Smith)
