Reflected poor judgment: Deepak Chopra breaks silence on mention in Epstein files

Indian-American author and new-age guru Deepak Chopra, who is among a slew of prominent persons who have appeared in sex offender Jeffrey Epstein files, has apologised for his email exchanges with the latter. Many exchanges between the two were released in November last year, including a 2016 one where the then-69-year-old wrote to Epstein about enjoying the "younger, intellectually sharp and self-aware women".

The author has broken silence on the revelations and expressed deep sadness, saying the email exchanges reflect "poor judgment in tone". He also said that he regrets the exchanges as he understands how they read today. Chopra, however, clarified that he was neither involved nor participated in any criminal or exploitative conduct during the years of his friendship with the sex offender.

"I'm deeply saddened by the suffering of the victims in this case, and I unequivocally condemn abuse and exploitation in all forms. I want to be clear: I was never involved in, nor did I participate in, any criminal or exploitative conduct. Any contact I had was limited and unrelated to abusive activity. Some past email exchanges have surfaced that reflect poor judgment in tone. I regret that and understand how they read today, given what was publicly known at the time. My focus remains on supporting accountability, prevention, and efforts that protect and support survivors," Chopra tweeted.

The New Delhi-born author left hospital medicine soon after meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1985. He has also appeared in many episodes of Oprah Winfrey's talk show.

In one of the email exchanges between Chopra and Epstein, the former talks about his biological needs. "My biological needs are met occasionally but – that too – it seems I've been there/done that. I have 3 more books to write and then will be done with that as well. I will be going for 1 week of silence at the end of this month with a small group. Maybe some more clarity then I do enjoy the company of younger, intellectually sharp and self-aware women and love to engage with them to inspire and stimulate them."

This exchange was from August 2016, years after Epstein had already been registered as a sex offender.

Another exchange between the two is from November 2016, when Chopra sent Epstein a news article about a woman taking back a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of sexual abuse at an event linked to the sex offender. The author asked Epstein whether the case against him had also been dropped. When Epstein confirmed it was, Chopra replied, "Good".

There were also exchanges featuring Trump and his then-second wife Marla Maples. Chopra asked Epstein if he knew Maples, who is with whom the now US President shares daughter Tiffany Trump. Epstein then replied he lost a USD 10,000 bet, which he said he paid to Trump with a truck full of baby food.

- Ends

Tune In