- Two women in bikinis were seen with Stephen Hawking in Epstein file photos from 2006
- The women were Hawking's long-term carers, as confirmed by his family representatives
- Hawking attended a 2006 science symposium funded by Epstein in the Caribbean
Two bikini-clad women were seen on either side of late physicist Stephen Hawking in photographs from the Jeffrey Epstein files. Pictured reclining on a sun lounger with a cocktail in hand, the British theoretical physicist was steadied by one of the women, who were his long-term carers, necessary due to his need for round-the-clock medical support, as per The Independent.
The newly surfaced photo is believed to have been taken in 2006 during a science symposium at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, St Thomas, where Hawking delivered a talk on quantum cosmology. He was one of 21 scientists who visited St Thomas and Epstein's 75-acre private island, Little Saint James, for the event.
Family's Claim
Hawking's family's representative told the UK's Daily Mail that the two women were late scientist's "long-term carers from the UK". "Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct on his part is wrong and far-fetched in the extreme," they added.
Hawking, referenced at least 250 times in the US Justice Department's collection of Epstein files, is seen smiling in the undated photograph while holding a glass between the two unidentified women. The image was part of a small group of photos of the scientist included in the latest batch of documents.
About Stephen Hawking
Hawking's groundbreaking work on black holes and general relativity reshaped modern cosmology.
“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,” his family said in a statement to The NY Post. “Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct on his part is wrong and far-fetched in the extreme.”
Epstein files also mention Hawking after prominent accuser Virginia Giuffre alleged that the scientist had once participated “in an underage orgy” in the Virgin Islands. In response, Epstein offered a cash reward to anyone who could disprove her claim.
In a 2015 email to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, he wrote, “You can issue a reward to any of virginias friends acquaionts family [sic] that come forward and help prove her allegations are false. The strongest is the clinton dinner, and the new version in the virgin isalnds that stven hawking partica-ted [sic] in an underage orgy.”
Hawking, who died in 2018 aged 76 after living with early-onset ALS for more than 50 years, had attended a conference funded and hosted by Epstein in March 2006.
The event took place on the Caribbean island of St Thomas, near Epstein's private island, five months before Epstein was charged with soliciting prostitution in Florida.
Hawking had previously been photographed on Epstein's Caribbean island, though no image of him with Epstein has come up yet.
Other previously released photos show Hawking at an outdoor dinner on Little Saint James and touring the island's seabed in a specially adapted submarine.
