The Def Jam co-founder posted multiple Instagram videos defending the Microsoft billionaire amid mounting scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Despite what anyone may say about Bill Gates, Russell Simmons wants Black people to respect him because of how many lives he believes the Microsoft co-founder has saved.
During a recent livestream, Simmons revealed his thoughts on Gates, considering the criticism he’s received in previous months due to allegations in the Jeffrey Epstein files about STI treatment pills.
“He’s put hundreds of billions of dollars into ideas and actual medicine that’s saved Black lives,” Simmons said, going as far to claim Gates has saved more Black lives than anyone in world history — referencing The Gates Foundation committing tens of billions of dollars toward malaria eradication, vaccines, and poverty-reduction programs across Africa.
“His intentions have been nothing but good,” Simmons continued — before then bringing up the situation described in the Epstein files: that Gates allegedly had sex with a woman and wanted medication to treat an STI, as well as sought medicine to give his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, without her knowing.
“Most n***as would do that,” Simmons joked about the situation. “They’d say, ‘I fucked around on my wife, let me slip her a pill. That’s the only bad thing I seen him do, that’s it.”
As for what he’s seen Gates do that’s positive, Gates claimed that he put “ billions of dollars” into supporting Africans when Elon Musk “pulled his support” from the country. Simmons also claimed that Gates is trying to “save” us from global warming.
Gates hasn’t responded to Simmons’ praise. He’s instead focused on sounding the alarm on the risks of artificial intelligence. In an essay posted to GatesNotes on Aug. 26, Gates wrote about the importance of making critical choices in this era, which he called “one of the most turbulent times in human history.”
