Stephen Hawking Pictured With Women in Bikinis in Newly Released Epstein Files

A recently released photograph from documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein shows the late British physicist Stephen Hawking seated with two women in bikinis. The image was made public as part of a large disclosure by the US Department of Justice this month.

The exact date and location of the photograph have not been confirmed. However, several other images in the release are believed to have been taken on Little Saint James, a private island in the US Virgin Islands. Hawking is known to have visited the island in March 2006 as one of 21 scientists attending a five-day physics conference on gravity. At that time, Epstein had not faced charges related to sexual offences.

Earlier photographs, published in 2015, showed Hawking attending a barbecue on the island in his wheelchair and taking part in a submarine tour around the surrounding seabed.

Hawking’s name appears more than 250 times across the Epstein files. Authorities note that appearing in the documents does not imply wrongdoing, and Hawking was never accused or charged with any crime.

Among the documents is a 2015 email from Epstein to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. In the message, Epstein discussed offering a financial reward to anyone who could disprove allegations made by Virginia Giuffre that Hawking had participated in an underage gathering on the Virgin Islands.

Giuffre, who previously accused Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of sexual abuse, died by suicide in 2025.

The release of these files has sparked renewed attention to Epstein’s network and the high-profile figures associated with him, although legal experts emphasise that inclusion in the documents is not evidence of criminal conduct.