The name of one of CBS News’ newest star contributors has been scrubbed as an “expert” from his second job following revelations that he maintained a close friendship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for years.
Savvy social media users initially observed Sunday that Peter Attia, whose name appeared in the latest tranche of Epstein files over 1,700 times, has been removed from the David Protein website’s “expert” section.
Attia, an anti-aging influencer who was a major investor in the company while also serving as chief science officer, has also been scrubbed from the brand’s homepage, which formerly highlighted both Attia and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman–who is also an investor–as experts. Only Huberman remains.
Attia was previously listed on the company’s about page under the headline “Meet the experts” alongside obesity researcher David B. Allison, as seen in an archived version of the page. Now Allison is the lone expert listed.
A protein guide identifying Attia as the company’s chief science officer is still visible on the company’s website, but it is not accessible from the homepage.
It is unclear when Attia’s name was removed, but a Wayback Machine search shows Attia was visible on the home page on Jan. 29, the day before the latest Epstein files were released.
The Daily Beast has contacted David Protein, CBS News, and Attia for comment. CBS News has yet to publicly acknowledge Attia’s inclusion in the latest round of the Epstein files, and Attia has continued to post on social media without acknowledging the reports.
The latest Epstein file dump revealed that Attia, who was tapped by CBS chief Bari Weiss to serve as one of the network’s new contributors on Tuesday, was in regular communication with Epstein until his 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.
Included in the dump were dozens of emails between Attia and Epstein that reveal a close and playful friendship between the pair—so playful that Attia even joked in one email that the “worst” part about being Epstein’s friend was that “the life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul.”
Attia’s emails with Epstein also veered into more explicit territory, with Attia sending Epstein an email in 2016 that read, “P—y is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
There were also acknowledgements of Epstein’s legal troubles, with Attia asking the disgraced financier in 2018 if there had been any legal “fallout” from the Miami Herald’s report that identified 80 of Epstein’s victims.
One email revealed that Attia met with Epstein for dinner in New York rather than return home to San Diego to support his wife after their newborn son stopped breathing and had to be rushed to hospital.
“I stayed in New York, busy with my ‘important’ work,” Attia wrote in his book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. “Ayrton’s cardiac arrest happened on a Tuesday, but I did not come home to San Diego until Friday of the following week. Ten days later.”
An email released in the file dump shows Attia confirming plans to meet with Epstein on Thursday morning, two days after his son had been rushed to hospital.
Attia, a Canadian longevity influencer, is the creator of Early Medical, a program that promises to improve participants’ chances of “living the longest, healthiest life you can” and costs $2500. While he graduated with a Doctor of Medicine from Stanford in 2001, he never completed his residency or became board-certified.
He was one of several controversial hires by Weiss, including his fellow David Protein investor Andrew Huberman, conservative historian Niall Ferguson, who resigned from Stanford after emails of him asking for “opposition research” on a left-wing student were leaked, and author Elliot Ackerman, who has described President Donald Trump, a five-time draft dodger, as a “combat leader.”
“I am here to make CBS News fit for the purpose in the 21st century,” Weiss told CBS News employees before announcing the network’s newest contributors.
“I’m not going to stand up here today and ask you for your trust. I’m going to earn it,” she added.
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