Celebrity doctor Peter Attia steps down from David Protein over Epstein link; CBS will also show him the door

A day after celebrity doctor Peter Attia apologized for his association with sex offender Jefrrey Epstein that continued long after Epstein's conviction, David Protein CEO Peter Rahal announced that Attia stepped down from his role of Chief Science Officer. "We remain focused on serving our customers," Rahal announced. Attia will also be shown the door from CBS, which he recently joined as a contributor.

Attia's name appeared more than 1700 times in the latest release of the Epstein Files. He issued a statement acknowledging his association with Epstein but clarified that he was never involved in any criminal activity; never visted the Epstein island and never was on Epstein's plane.




But he indeed wrote crass emails replying to Epstein's crude jokes and said there is no defense for his actions. "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 wrote in his statement.



In 2015, Attia sent Epstein an email informing him that he had received a fresh shipment. A photo of metformin bottles was attached. Epstein replied 'me too' and attached the photo of a woman. Attia matched up with Epstein's level and wrote back that the female genitalia is "low-carb".

"Reading that exchange now is very embarrassing, and I will not defend it. I’m ashamed of myself for everything about this. At the time, I understood this exchange as juvenile, not a reference to anything dark or harmful," Attia wrote.