Stephen Hawking — stephen hawking pictured with bikini-clad women in Epstein files
stephen hawking appears in a newly revealed photograph relaxing on a sun lounger beside bikini-clad women, documents in the Epstein files show. The undated image, included in material released by the US Department of Justice as it investigates Jeffrey Epstein, has prompted the release of additional pictures and a family statement defending the late scientist.
Photos released in Epstein files
The photograph shows the late scientist reclining on a sun lounger with a cocktail placed in his hand. The drink is steadied by one of the two women pictured. The image is undated in the file set but is part of documents linked to the wider investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Stephen Hawking at Ritz Carlton
The picture was taken in 2006 during a science symposium at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, St Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, where Hawking gave a speech on quantum cosmology. The same set of documents notes Hawking’s name appears hundreds of times in the files, while also making clear that simply being identified in the documents does not indicate any wrongdoing.
Scientists on Little Saint James
Hawking was among 21 scientists who visited St Thomas and Epstein’s 75-acre private island, Little Saint James, for a science event. The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation said that, in 2012, guests met to “discuss, relax on the beach, and take a trip to the nearby private island retreat” during the event “to determine what the consensus is, if any, for defining gravity”.
Other images and access
Other photographs in the materials show Hawking in a range of settings tied to Epstein’s properties. A 2015 photograph released earlier captured Hawking in his wheelchair at an outdoor dinner on Little Saint James with several other people. Another picture shows the cosmologist in a submarine, taking a tour of the island’s seabed; Epstein had reportedly modified the underwater vessel to allow Hawking to get into it. The files also show Hawking had previously been seen in photographs taken on Epstein’s Caribbean island, although no pictures of him and the convicted paedophile together are known to exist.
Care, carers and condition
The newly revealed sun-lounger image is accompanied in the files by the detail that the two women pictured were understood to be his long-term carers, since he needed round-the-clock care. Hawking lived with motor neurone disease for more than 55 years and was reliant on a ventilator, a voice synthesiser and a wheelchair.
Allegations, documents and family response
Two years ago, court documents revealed Epstein told his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell she could offer a financial reward to friends of his accuser Virginia Giuffre if they could “help prove” an apparent allegation Hawking had engaged in an “underage orgy” was false. The files make clear the inclusion of Hawking’s name many times does not itself allege wrongdoing.
A spokesperson for the Hawking family said: “Professor Hawking made some of the greatest contributions to physics in the 20th century, while at the same time being the longest-known survivor of motor neurone disease, a debilitating condition which left him reliant on a ventilator, voice synthesiser, wheelchair and round-the-clock medical care. Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct on his part is wrong and far-fetched in the extreme. ”
Hawking died in 2018, aged 76, after living with motor neurone disease for more than 55 years. The documents and images in the files include the sun-lounger photograph, the 2015 dinner image, and the submarine picture alongside other material tied to the 2006 symposium and subsequent events.
Young women also joined the science event attended by Stephen Hawking, and the files include instances of his presence at multiple gatherings linked to Epstein’s properties. The files and the family statement together set out the images and the context provided in the released documents.
