A photo of the late Stephen Hawking with women in bikinis has been released in documents related to convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, stirring controversy. The bereaved family said the women in the photo were Hawking's long-term caregivers.
On the 25th, according to The Times and The Telegraph in the United Kingdom, the U.S. Department of Justice included a photo of Hawking among the millions of documents released during the Epstein investigation.
The photo shows Hawking, fully clothed, lying on a sunbed with two women in black bikinis on either side holding cocktails. One of the women is helping Hawking hold a cocktail.
The photo is believed to have been taken during a science symposium held in March 2006 at the Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, about five months before Epstein was indicted on charges of procuring minors for prostitution. The Telegraph reported that Hawking, who gave a lecture on quantum cosmology at the symposium, appeared to have accepted an invitation from Epstein on a nearby island.
Philip Peebles, the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate who attended the same symposium as Hawking, recalled that there were few observers at the forum aside from the presenters, and that young women suddenly appeared. Peebles said, "We discuss between presentations, drink coffee, and gather around to talk. A very typical scene," but added, "Then at some point young women appeared and stood there silently without saying anything. I couldn't imagine what on earth they were doing."
Afterward, when Epstein's sexual exploitation of minors came to light, Peebles recalled, "At the time, I was only momentarily puzzled by the women who appeared suddenly, and then I generally forgot about it," but added, "After Epstein's arrest, it became natural to accept that those young women were part of his 'collection' of people he made suffer."
Hawking's name appears about 250 times in the released documents.
However, Hawking's family flatly denied any connection with Epstein and countered that the women in bikinis were caregivers who accompanied Hawking, who had lived with ALS for more than 50 years. A Spokesperson for the family said, "Hawking relied on a ventilator, a voice synthesizer, a wheelchair, and 24-hour medical care," adding, "Any suggestion that he engaged in inappropriate behavior is wrong and an extraordinarily absurd claim."