The family of Stephen Hawking have hit out at ‘insinuations’ after a photo in the Epstein Files showing him with two women in bikinis went viral.
Speaking to the Mirror, 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.’
In the photo, the Cambridge theoretical physicist and the two women are shown holding what appear to be fruity cocktails as they bask in the sunshine.
It was taken at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the US Virgin Islands in 2006, where Hawking gave a speech on quantum cosmology.
Hawking was among 21 internationally renowned scientists who attended a conference hosted by Epstein on his island and nearby St Thomas in 2006.
He was also previously accused of having ‘participated in an underage orgy’ on the island by late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, according to emails sent by the financier.
Epstein furiously denied the allegation and appears to have instructed his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to offer money to Giuffre’s friends if they could help disprove the claims against Hawking, according to court documents made public two years ago.
Professor Stephen Hawking was seen grinning from ear to ear as he sat sandwiched between two bikini-clad women in a photo released in the Jeffrey Epstein files
Hawking, who died in March 2018 aged 76 after living for more than 50 years with motor neuron disease (ALS), was hosted by Epstein in March 2006, five months before the financier was charged for the first time with soliciting prostitution.
He is referenced at least 250 times in the Epstein Files, a search of the trove of documents released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) revealed. There is no suggestion that Hawking’s appearance in the documents implies any wrongdoing.
Pictures that emerged in 2015 showed the celebrated physicist in his wheelchair attending a barbecue.
He was later given a submarine tour of the seabed around Epstein’s island.
The pedophile had modified the vessel especially for Hawking, who had never been underwater before.
The conference was held at the five-star, $1,600-per-night Ritz-Carlton hotel on the island of St Thomas, close to Little Saint James.
A post on the blog of the ‘Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation’ included details about the conference, called ‘The Energy of Empty Space That Isn’t Zero’.
It stated that guests ‘could meet, discuss, relax on the beach, and take a trip to the nearby private island retreat of the science philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein, who funded the event’.
Guests appeared to have split their time between St Thomas and Little Saint James, where Epstein personally hosted them.
Epstein was said to surround himself with prominent scientists and called himself a ‘science philanthropist’.
He made large donations to scientific causes and, at one stage, was allegedly giving as much as $20million a year to fund scientists.
Many of the scientists and researchers distanced themselves after his arrest.
Hawking during the 2006 Energy of Empty Space That Isn’t Zero conference, hosted by Epstein in the US Virgin Islands
