Three weeks after celebrity doctor Peter Attia appeared all over the Epstein files, he said on Monday that he will resign from his role as a contributor at CBS News.
A prominent longevity influencer who charges six figures for his concierge practice, Attia joined CBS in January as part of a crew of splashy new contributors brought on by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. But a few days later, reports started to circulate that Attia’s name appeared in the recently released Epstein files more than 1,700 times. Emails suggested that Attia was quite friendly with the convicted sex offender. In one message from 2016, Attia seems to have written to Epstein: “Pussy is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
In response to widespread outrage, Attia apologized for the emails, which he called “embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible,” but stressed that he “was not involved in any criminal activity.” While he appeared to quickly part ways with some of the other companies where he served as an adviser — including David, AG1, and Eight Sleep — CBS remained notably silent on his future with the network. Reports initially speculated that Weiss was standing by Attia, but it seems that in the end, he decided it was best to step down. In a statement, a spokesperson for Attia told NBC News that his “contributor role was newly established and had not yet meaningfully begun,” adding that “he stepped back to ensure that his involvement didn’t become a distraction from the important work being done at CBS.”
Luckily for CBS, it still has contributors like turkey-chili expert Andrew Huberman and RFK Jr. pal Mark Hyman to turn to for health coverage.
The Cut has reached out to CBS and Attia for comment and will update this post if we hear back.