Deepak Chopra’s close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein had a closer friendship with best-selling author and wellness guru Deepak Chopra than was previously known, according to files released by the Justice Department. CNN reviewed hundreds of messages between the two men.
Deepak Chopra’s close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein
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The University of California, San Diego said bestselling author and wellness guru Deepak Chopra’s association with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was “regrettable,” and that Chopra’s affiliation with the school will end in June, on the heels of CNN’s reporting about Chopra and Epstein’s close relationship.
“UC San Diego is aware that Deepak Chopra, MD, has been mentioned in files that were recently released by the Department of Justice. Dr. Chopra currently has a Voluntary Clinical Professor (without salary) appointment in the School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine with an expected job end date of 6/30/26,” the school told CNN. “While we are not able to comment further on personnel matters, the crimes Jeffrey Epstein committed were horrific, and any association with him is regrettable.”
CNN has asked UCSD whether Chopra is currently teaching at the school in his voluntary clinical professor role. CNN has also reached out to Chopra for comment.
The school’s comment came in response to CNN’s examination of hundreds of messages in the Justice Department’s Epstein files that Chopra and Epstein exchanged between 2016 and 2019 — the year that Epstein was arrested on federal charges of operating a sex-trafficking ring and of sexually abusing underage girls.
Chopra wrote on X earlier this month that he was “deeply saddened by the suffering of the victims in this case,” adding: “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.”
The presence of a person’s name in the Epstein files is not indicative of wrongdoing. Approached recently and asked to comment about his relationship with Epstein, Chopra said: “No misconduct.”
