Colorado restaurateur Kimbal Musk on Monday addressed his inclusion in a recent release of more files related disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying he only met with him once in New York and never visited his island, according to a statement posted on social media.
Musk, who lives in Boulder and is the brother of Elon Musk, has come under scrutiny after his name was mentioned at least 140 times in emails exchanged between Epstein and his associates in documents recently released by the Department of Justice as part of the Epstein files investigation.
After an open letter signed by hundreds of called for a review of Musk’s place on the board of directors, officials said Musk had already stepped back from organization before the new Epstein documents were released.
Musk “chose not to renew” his membership on the board of directors after his term expired in January “based on other commitments and priorities,” .
“We appreciate Kimbal’s participation and support as a community member across many forms of engagement,” wrote on the project’s website.
Musk did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
In a Monday post on X, his only meeting with “that demon” was in Epstein’s New York office during the day.
“My heart goes out to the many victims of Jeffrey Epstein, as it does for all who have suffered any kind of sexual abuse or harassment,” Musk wrote.
Musk, who opened in 2004 along with chef Hugo Matheson, said Epstein had so many emails from him because Epstein subscribed to Musk’s weekly newsletter.
The Kitchen now has locations in Denver, Chicago and Austin.
But among the newsletters are correspondence between Musk, Epstein and Epstein’s friend Boris Nikolic between 2012 and 2015, years after to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in Florida.
After a meeting in early October 2012, Musk sent Epstein and Nikolic an email thanking them for connecting him with a woman, writing “I believe you both played a role. :)”
On Monday, Musk said on social media he met the woman, who was 30 years old, “through a friend” and that “Epstein did not introduce us.”
The emails also show Epstein invited Musk to his private island in January 2013, which Musk declined but said he might be able to visit later.
Musk on Monday wrote he never visited the island and never met with Epstein again.
Epstein was arrested and charged with sexually abusing underage girls in a New York sex trafficking case in July 2019 and died by suicide in a federal prison one month later.
Epstein’s former girlfriend, , was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
