Who Is Peter Attia? CBS Exit and Epstein Files

Peter Attia, the physician and longevity influencer best known for his bestselling book Outlive and his popular podcast The Peter Attia Drive, has resigned from his role as a CBS News contributor, effective immediately. He held the position for exactly one month (not exactly living up to longevity there).

His resignation came one day after John Oliver devoted a segment of Last Week Tonight to criticizing CBS News for continuing to employ him — and weeks after the story that set it all in motion: the release of the Epstein files.

How the Epstein Files Unraveled Peter Attia's CBS Future

On January 30, the Justice Department released approximately 3 million documents related to criminal investigations of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Attia's name appeared more than 1,700 times — a volume that drew immediate public attention.

The bulk of the emails date to the mid-2010s, after Epstein's 2008 Florida conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, but before a 2018 Miami Herald investigation that brought the full scope of Epstein's crimes into public view. The correspondence includes crude jokes, Attia offering to help Epstein live longer "for the ladies," and a message in which Attia wrote that "the worst part about being your friend is that the life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can't tell a soul."

@drmichaelsays

1700 mentions in the Epstein Files: my questions for Dr Peter Attia ➡️ The newest DOJ release under the Epstein Files Transparency Act is out, and celebrity longevity expert Peter Attia is all over it, with 1,700 mentions and a bizarre email about a ‘fresh shipment’. I’ve always said this guy carries himself like he’s above the law- a concierge doctor for the elite who thinks he knows cardiology and endocrinology better than the actual specialists. But the files don’t lie. There are two critical questions that Dr. Attia needs to answer immediately. Watch until the end to see why this ‘Medicine 3.0’ guru is losing his credibility fast. It’s time to stop following the grifters. #PeterAttia #EpsteinFiles #medicalethics #longevity #breakingnews

♬ original sound - Geandrámaíocht

In a public statement in early February, Attia said he was "not involved in any criminal activity," was never on Epstein's plane or island, and that his interactions with Epstein "had nothing to do with his sexual abuse or exploitation of anyone." But he did not shy away from the emails themselves. "I 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," he wrote.

CBS pulled a rerun of a 60 Minutes segment featuring Attia shortly after the files went public. He also stepped down as chief science officer of David Protein and was removed from the website of another company where he was listed in an advisory role. CBS, however, kept him on — until Oliver's segment made the network's position untenable.

So, Who Is Peter Attia?

For readers encountering his name for the first time today: Attia is a Stanford-trained physician who has built a large public following through his work in longevity and preventative medicine. His 2023 book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity became a major bestseller, and his podcast The Peter Attia Drive has millions of listeners.

He was recruited to CBS News in January by Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss — herself a recent hire brought in to overhaul the network — as part of a stable of new contributors that also includes historian Niall Ferguson and wellness influencer Andrew Huberman. The appointment was announced at a CBS News all-hands meeting, where Weiss described the contributors as part of an effort to "widen the aperture of the stories we tell."

The aperture, it turned out, widened too far.

Attia has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and inclusion in the Epstein files is not proof of illegal conduct. But the professional consequences have been swift and significant — and as of today, CBS News is no longer among his platforms.

In a statement, his spokesman said the contributor role "had not yet meaningfully begun" and that Attia stepped back "to ensure his involvement didn't become a distraction." He has no further comment.