Peter Attia exits CBS News as contributor after Epstein links

Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAYMon, February 23, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC

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Doctor and controversial wellness guru Peter Attia is exiting CBS News after his ties to Jeffrey Epstein have come to light.

In a statement to NBC News on Monday, Feb. 23, Attia's spokesperson said his "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," the statement continued. "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.

The Epstein file mentions include crude exchanges between Attia and the convicted sex offender about female genitalia and emails that suggest the self-proclaimed longevity expert may have been with Epstein while his wife was alone with their son in the hospital after a near-fatal incident. Other emails suggest the doctor discussed longevity with the financier.

Peter Attia attends the premiere of "Limitless With Chris Hemsworth" at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Nov. 15, 2022m in New York City.

USA TODAY has reached out to CBS for comment.

In a lengthy Feb. 2 apology on X, addressing his communications with Epstein, Attia said he was not "involved in any criminal activity" and had nothing to do with" the convicted predator's "sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone." He said he met Epstein, who at the time was "widely known in academic and philanthropic circles as a funder of science" in 2014 through "a prominent female healthcare leader while I was raising funds for scientific research."

Attia added that the pair met up seven to eight times at Epstein's New York City home to discuss research studies and network. Still, he 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."

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Peter Attia's emails with Epstein

In one particularly crass email to the convicted sexual predator from 2016, Attia joked that female genitalia is "indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though."

Other emails note an appointment between Attia and an unknown associate on July 13, 2017, while emails between Epstein and his longtime assistant and planner Leslie Groff confirm a meeting with Attia for the same afternoon.

1 / 0What do the Epstein files show? See photos released by DOJ(L-R) Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and Diana Ross in a photo that was part of thousands of files related to Jefferey Epstein released by the Department of Justice on Dec. 19, 2025. The images were released by the US DOJ without location information, dates or context.

The dates would have been around the time of an incident the wellness coach wrote about in his 2022 book "Outlive," in which he admonishes himself for not being by his wife and son's side after the month-old baby suddenly stopped breathing.

"In reality, I was out of control. I wasn't just some garden variety road raging maniac either. A few months earlier, on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, at 5:45 to be exact, I had received a call from Jill, my wife. She was in an ambulance with our infant son … on the way to the hospital," Attia wrote. "For some reason, he had suddenly stopped breathing and fallen unconscious. His eyes were completely rolled back in their sockets, and he was lifeless and blue, with no heartbeat."

His son had begun breathing a short time later, but was still being held in the hospital for four days, all the while his wife "pleaded with me to come home. I called in daily to talk to the doctors and discuss each day's test results, but I stayed in New York, busy with my, quote, important work."

He added: "I feel nauseous about my behavior. I can't believe I did that to my family. I can't believe what a blind, selfish, checked out husband and father I was."

Contributing: Pamela Avila, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Peter Attia out at CBS News after Jeffrey Epstein files, emails

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