The Epstein files, while they still haven’t harpooned their biggest whales, continue to destroy reputations on the side. One of the most unusual scalps claimed last week was that of celebrity doctor and “longevity expert” Peter Attia, creator of the “Outlive” brand. Last month, CBS News named Attia one of 19 new essential contributors. Now it’s cutting ties with him. And they’re not the only ones.
Attia was born in Canada but graduated from Stanford University Medical School in 2001. He spent five years as a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was named “Resident of the Year,” followed by a surgical oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute focusing on melanoma.
After a brief tenure at McKinsey and company, Attia founded a private clinic to implement “Medicine 3.0,” a proactive approach to health that emphasizes exercise, nutritional biochemistry, and emotional health to prevent chronic disease. His 2023 book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, became a #1 New York Times bestseller. One of his most famous concepts is the Centenarian Decathlon: a list of 10 physical tasks you want to be able to do in your last decade of life. One of those tasks, we assume, wasn’t hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein.
Attia is all over the Epstein files. His name appears in the recently-released tranche of documents more than 1,700 times, including an email to Epstein’s assistant where he says “I go into JE withdrawal when I don’t see him.” The files indicate that Epstein wasn’t only Attia’s friend. He was also a client. There are indications of blood draws and doctor’s visits.
In one particularly damning email, Attia wrote to Epstein, “Got a fresh shipment.” Epstein replied, “me too,” and attached a photo that the Justice Department has redacted. “Please tell you found that picture on line…bastard,” Attia replied. “You know the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul…” At another point, Attia wrote to Epstein, “Pussy is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
Very classy. Attia has apologized, of course, sending a long email to patients and clients that he also posted on X. He was never involved in criminal activity, he said. “My interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with his sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone. I was never on his plane, never on his island, and never present at any sex parties.” That may be true, but documents show that Attia chose to remain in New York City in 2017 for “work,” including a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein, after his infant son was admitted to the ICU in San Diego. He was a “blind, selfish, checked-out husband and father,” he admitted last week.
Epstein’s lifestyle dangled in front of Attia like the devil’s candy: “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.” And now he finds himself “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.”
But humiliation is just the half of it. In addition to the shattering of his CBS News gig, Attia has stepped down from his position as chief science officer of a company called David Protein (no relation to Jeffrey Epstein), and finds a number of other corporate sponsorships in danger. As Attia wrote in Outlive: “Medicine 3.0…requires you to be well informed, clear-eyed about your goals, and cognizant of the true nature of risk.” But life is about more than maximizing your metabolism. As the writer Charlotte Alter somewhat cruelly put it on X:
“The Peter Attia thing really exposes the difference between living long and living well. Maybe it’s better to have a shorter life full of love and integrity. Now he’s gotta spend the next 60 years explaining why he left his baby son in the ICU to hang out w Jeffrey Epstein.”
Attia isn’t going to live 60 more years. None of us are, unless you’re one of the rare Gen-Alpha Spectator subscribers. And Attia’s placement in the Epstein files may add up to nothing more than guilt by association combined with some questionable judgment in choosing his friends. But he sure did choose poorly.
