Anti-aging influencer Peter Attia admitted Monday that he’s “ashamed” of his “tasteless and indefensible” emails with late pal Jeffrey Epstein — as CBS News reportedly plans to ax him just days after announcing his new gig as a contributor.
Attia, 52, issued the groveling apology just days after his chummy correspondence with the convicted sex trafficker came to light in the Epstein files drop late last week — including an email in which he told the pervert that “p—y is, indeed, low carb.”
“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,” the celebrity doctor said in a lengthy statement on X.
Attia, who boasts 1.7 million followers on Instagram, insisted his interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with the pervert’s “sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone” and that he “was not involved in any criminal activity.”
“I was never on his plane, never on his island, and never present at any sex parties,” the celebrity doctor insisted.
The doc also sought to explain the batch of eyebrow-raising emails — including one fired off in 2015 in which he alluded to the convicted sex offender’s “outrageous” lifestyle.
“At that point in my career, I had little exposure to prominent people, and that level of access was novel to me. Everything about him seemed excessive and exclusive, including the fact that he lived in the largest home in all of Manhattan, owned a Boeing 727, and hosted parties with the most powerful and prominent leaders in business and politics,” Attia said.
“One line in that exchange, about his life being outrageous and me not being able to tell anyone, is being interpreted as awareness of wrongdoing. That is not how I meant it at all. What I was referring to, poorly and flippantly, was the discretion commanded by those social and professional circles — the idea that you don’t talk about who you meet, the dinners you attend and the power and influence of the people in those settings.”
Attia, who is referenced 1,741 times in the files, has also faced heat for crass medical advice he offered up during his years-long friendship with Epstein — including a stomach-churning email he fired off in 2016 in which the physician joked that “p—y is, indeed, low carb.”
The doctor, who was only just named as one of CBS’ 19 new contributors, said he was introduced to Epstein back in 2014 when Attia was raising funds for scientific research.
He said he went on to meet with Epstein seven or eight times at the sex offender’s Manhattan townhouse until 2019.
“Shortly after we met, I asked him directly about his 2008 conviction. He characterized it as prostitution-related charges,” he said, adding that he only realized in 2018 that this was “grossly minimized.”
“I was incredibly naïve to believe him. I mistook his social acceptance in the eyes of the credible people I saw him with for acceptability, and that was a serious error in my judgment. To be clear, I never witnessed illegal behavior and never saw anyone who appeared underage in his presence.”
Attia insisted that his lengthy statement wasn’t an attempt to get a free pass.
“I am not asking anyone to ignore the emails or pretend they aren’t ugly. They simply are,” he said.
“The man I am today, roughly ten years later, would not write them and would not associate with Epstein at all. Whatever growth I’ve had over the past decade does not erase the emails I wrote then.”
Attia was named a new on-air contributor for CBS News on Jan. 27 — just three days before the new batch of files dropped.
The network, which is in the midst of an extensive overhaul under its new editor in chief Bari Weiss, is expected to cut ties with the wellness guru, the Wrap reported, citing sources.
Attia’s fate at the network wasn’t immediately clear.
CBS News did not respond to multiple requests for comment.