Melinda French Gates, who was married to billionaire Bill Gates for nearly three decades, has opened up about “forgiveness” in relationships. Her comments come after the second batch of Jeffrey Epstein files was released, which included emails referring to Microsoft co-founder Bill.
Melinda French Gates thinks she is “good at forgiveness”
While appearing on the Wild Card podcast this week, Melinda was asked how she learnt to trust again following her divorce from Bill. The pair were married for 27 years but split in 2021. In her 2025 memoir, Melinda alluded that their divorce was fuelled by Bill’s infidelity and links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey.
“[I] thought it might never happen for me again,” she said when asked about regaining trust with someone else. “I trusted myself, though.”
She continued: “But I have learned that, with the right person, you can. And it’s baby steps at first. And you build on that, and you see it, and you test it, and then you can find it.”
Melinda has been linked romantically to Philip Vaughn since 2024.
“I’ve learned that forgiveness can take a long time and you can’t rush it,” she went on. “Ultimately, I really seek forgiveness with everybody because if you can’t eventually forgive somebody, then you hurt yourself, I think.”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Melinda commented on the latest batch of Epstein files. In them, an email alleged that Bill contracted a sexually transmitted infection during meetings with women arranged by Jeffrey. Although inclusion in the files is not an indication of any wrongdoing, Bill has since expressed his “regret” over his connection to the late financier.
“For me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up. Because [it] brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage,” Melinda said of the files. While she said she’s “so happy to be away from all the muck,” there are “questions” still to be answered.
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