Stephen Hawking Seen with 2 Women in Bikinis in New Epstein Files Photo. His Family Says They Were His Caretakers

NEED TO KNOW

• A photo of Stephen Hawking with two women in bikinis has emerged in a new batch of Epstein files
• A family spokesperson said the two women were the late physicist 's caretakers and that the photo was taken at a science symposium in 2006
• Representatives for Hawking’s family did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment

A photo of Stephen Hawking with two women in bikinis has emerged in a new batch of Epstein files that were released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The photo of the late British physicist began making headlines after it was released with other files related to the Epstein investigation, and a family spokesperson told U.K. newspaper The Times that the two women were Hawking’s longtime carers.

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His family went on to tell the outlet that the photo was taken at a science symposium at The Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas in 2006, where Hawking — who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and died in 2018 — presented a speech on quantum cosmology.

Later that same year, Epstein was charged with soliciting prostitution and an FBI investigation began, the Associated Press reported. The convicted sex offender died in a New York City jail in August 2019.

Representatives for Hawking’s family did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The professional conference in 2006 was funded by Epstein, according to The Times.

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While the notable group met to discuss the main topic, “Confronting Gravity,” they could also relax on the beach and take a trip to Epstein’s “nearby private island retreat,” according to an online post from the Edge Foundation, which has ties to the disgraced financier.

The event wasn’t the only time that Hawking has come up in the Epstein files. One photo, which surfaced in 2015, pictured the physicist with other diners on a patio, while another showed Hawking participating in a submarine tour of the seabed of Little Saint James, one of Epstein's private islands, according to The Times.

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Hawking was also referenced in a previously-released email from Epstein to accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, when the disgraced financier mentioned offering a reward to disprove an unsubstantiated allegation that Hawking had engaged in “an underage orgy" in the Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home.

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The email was released as a result of a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre — who accused Epstein and the former Prince Andrew of sexual abuse and died of suicide last year—against Maxwell. The case was settled out of court and Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Hawking is referenced around 250 times in the Epstein files, according to files reviewed by PEOPLE, though he has not been accused of a crime related to Epstein and being mentioned in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing.

Read the original article on People

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