Health influencer Peter Attia has decided to step away from his new position as a contributor to CBS News after his name appeared in the Epstein files.The longevity expert was one of several new contributors named last month by CBS News’ editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who has been pushing controversial changes at the network since taking on the leadership role in October. The Wrap reported that Weiss, who previously featured Attia on her podcast, “Honestly,” did not want to cut ties with him because she viewed it as “giving in to the mob.” “Dr. Attia’s contributor role was newly established and had not yet meaningfully begun,” a spokesperson for Attia told HuffPost in a statement. “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.”Attia also stepped down from his role as chief science officer at David Protein earlier this month, CEO Peter Rahal said. Health influencer Peter Attia has decided to step away from his new position as a contributor to CBS News after his name appeared in the Epstein files.Renee Dominguez/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty ImagesAttia claimed to have met disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2014, years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from underage girls, “through a prominent female healthcare leader while I was raising funds for scientific research. At that time, he was widely known in academic and philanthropic circles as a funder of science and moved openly among credible institutions and public figures.” Attia said they met seven to eight times between 2014 and 2019 in New York City. He also said he regrets interacting with Epstein, but knows that “whatever growth I’ve had over the past decade does not erase the emails I wrote then.”In one email to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, Attia said: “the life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul.”In another instance, Attia wrote in an email to Epstein that “p―-y is, indeed, low carb.”Earlier this month, Attia addressed his appearances in the Epstein files in a lengthy statement.“To be clear: 1. I was not involved in any criminal activity. 2. My interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with his sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone. 3. I was never on his plane, never on his island, and never present at any sex parties,” Attia’s stated. “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.”Close