Overview
- CBS staff were informed Monday that Attia would step aside effective immediately, and a network spokesperson confirmed his departure.
- A spokesperson for Attia said the contributor position had not meaningfully begun and that he withdrew to avoid distracting the news division.
- The DOJ’s January release shows Attia’s name appears more than 1,700 times in the Epstein files, including emails arranging meetings and discussing health matters.
- The trove includes crude banter—such as a 2016 message calling female genitalia “low carb”—and notes like “I go into JE withdrawal when I don’t see him.”
- Attia apologized for the emails and denied criminal involvement, saying he was never on Epstein’s plane or island; fallout has included stepping down from David Protein and CBS pulling a planned 60 Minutes rerun featuring him.