Stephen Hawking pictured between two bikini-clad women in latest Epstein Files photo release

stephen hawking appears in a newly revealed photograph from the Epstein Files, shown smiling and lounging beside two women in bikinis who were pictured drinking cocktails. The image is notable because it surfaced in the latest tranche of documents made public last month and because it adds to the long-running record of the scientist’s multiple appearances across the files.

Stephen Hawking in the new image

The fresh photo shows the late British physicist seated next to two bikini-clad women sipping cocktails, set on what appears to be a sun-soaked tropical island. The two women have had their identities redacted and it is currently unclear in the provided context where or when the picture was taken. The scientist is shown smiling in the image.

US Justice Department release of more than 3 million documents

That photograph was part of a package of material — more than 3 million documents — released in the latest tranche shared by the US Justice Department last month. The release of the documents led directly to the discovery of the newly published picture; the timing of the publication is the immediate cause for its wider circulation and renewed attention.

Little St James and the March 2006 conference

stephen hawking appears elsewhere in the files as well. He features several times and had previously been pictured on Epstein’s Island, Little St James. In March 2006 he attended a conference there that was reportedly funded by Epstein, and the files indicate earlier appearances on the island on two other occasions.

Email mentions, frequency and an allegation in the files

The files record that Hawking appears nearly 250 times in total. One email from Jeffrey Epstein in the collection suggested offering rewards to friends, acquaintances or family members who could help rebut allegations made by Virginia, specifically highlighting a Clinton dinner and asserting a version of events in the Virgin Islands that implicated Stephen Hawking in an underage orgy. The file material also notes that, despite visits and photographs on the island, Hawking was never pictured alongside Epstein himself. On one of Hawking’s visits, Epstein is said to have modified his submarine to give the scientist a tour of the island’s seabed.

Related entries and other items in the same bundle

The tranche contains a range of other items and headlines. A separate entry bears the headline "Verifying Device. " The material also includes an item stating that VUE states that Melania has now finished showing after chief previously said sales had been soft, and another note that the six-part series is set to air in November. Unconnected administrative detail in the release records that hospitals across Britain were told to postpone treatments last week, including knee and hip replacements, after problems arose at the health service's main supplier. The bundle additionally contains a line noting an anniversary marked with the UK promising more aid to help prop up forces in Kyiv.

What makes this notable is that the release both increases public access to previously private images and documents and reiterates the scope of material now searchable within a huge archive. The US Justice Department’s decision to publish the tranche produced the immediate effect of bringing individual items such as this photograph to light, while also prompting questions about context, timing and redactions that remain unresolved in the provided material.

It is important to note that appearing in the so-called Epstein Files does not imply any wrongdoing. The new photograph adds to a documented record in which Hawking appears frequently, but the files as presented do not confirm the circumstances, dates or intent behind every image or mention.

A count of the instances in the collection — nearly 250 mentions of Hawking — combined with the more than 3 million documents now public, underlines both the volume of material released and the practical challenges of establishing context from individual items. The discovery of the smiling image is therefore a measurable development in the ongoing public review of the files, even as many pertinent details remain unclear in the provided context.