Melinda French Gates appeared in a wide-ranging interview on NPR\u2019s \u201cWild Card\u201d podcast.The episode, hosted by Rachel Martin, aired in full on February 5.In the conversation, Melinda spoke about her ex-husband, Bill Gates, and shared insight as to whether she\u2019d forgiven him for his mistakes in their marriage of 27 years.<\/p>\n
Amid the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s latest release of the Epstein files\u2014which included emails mentioning Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates<\/a>\u2014his ex-wife Melinda French Gates<\/a> is opening up in a new interview about whether she\u2019s forgiven him or not.\n<\/p>\n In a new episode of NPR\u2019s \u201cWild Card\u201d podcast<\/a> aired in full on February 5, Melinda spoke about many topics with host Rachel Martin, including her former husband of 27 years. Bill\u2019s name came up in newly released emails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and speaking about trust, Melinda told Martin that after the dissolution of her marriage to Bill, she \u201cthought it might never happen for me again.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Melinda French Gates on April 15, 2025.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n \u201cI trusted myself, though,\u201d she added<\/a>. \u201cBut I have learned that, that with the right person, you can, and it\u2019s baby steps at first, and you build on that and you see it and you test it, and then you can find it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Asked by Martin if she was \u201cgood at forgiveness,\u201d Melinda responded, \u201cYes, I think I am,\u201d adding, \u201cBut I\u2019ve learned that forgiveness can take a long time, and you can\u2019t rush it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cBut ultimately, I really seek forgiveness with everybody, because if you can\u2019t eventually forgive somebody, then you hurt yourself, I think,\u201d Melinda said. \u201cI forgive them, but I don\u2019t need to be in touch with them anymore.\u201d She continued, \u201cbut if I can forgive what happened and also try a little bit and see their side of it, then I can move on.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Melinda French Gates in New York City on September 10, 2025.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n After being asked if she had forgiven Bill, she said, \u201cI think I\u2019m gonna keep that one to myself,\u201d later calling it a \u201cwork in progress\u201d and adding, \u201cI think I\u2019m getting there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Melinda and Bill\u2014who share three kids together\u2014announced their divorce in 2021. Factors in the split included Bill\u2019s links to Epstein and his infidelity. On \u201cWild Card,\u201d Melinda said that the latest allegations about Bill and Epstein brought her \u201cunbelievable sadness.\u201d (For his part, a spokesperson for Bill called the allegations \u201cabsolutely absurd and completely false.\u201d)\n<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re having a reckoning as a society, right?\u201d Melinda said to Martin. \u201cNo girl, no girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him.\u201d She added, \u201cSo for me, it\u2019s personally hard whenever those details come up, right, because [it] brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage. But I have moved on from that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates arrive at the Elysee Palace before receiving the award of Commander of the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Hollande on April 21, 2017 in Paris, France.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Melinda continued that \u201cwhatever questions remain there of what I don\u2019t\u2014can\u2019t even begin to know all of it\u2014those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer those things, not me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n She concluded, \u201cI am so happy to be away from all the muck that was there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the conversation, Melinda poignantly said<\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s beyond heartbreaking, right? I remember being those ages those girls were, I remember my daughters being those ages.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates on ‘Good Morning America’ in February 2016.<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n Melinda previously told Gayle King in an interview on CBS Mornings<\/a> in March 2022 about her breakup from Bill, \u201cAs I said, it\u2019s not one thing, it was many things, but I did not like that he\u2019d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.\u201d\n<\/p>\n