A photograph of the late scientist Stephen Hawking relaxing on a sun lounger while sipping on a cocktail has been revealed in the Epstein files.
The world-renowned British theoretical physicist is seen reclining in the undated picture, alongside two women who are understood to be his long-term carers, since he needed round-the-clock care. The trio are pictured holding cocktails, with Hawking’s drink being steadied by one of the women.
Hawking, whose pioneering work on black holes and general relativity in the universe revolutionised modern cosmology, died in 2018, aged 76, after living with motor neurone disease for more than 55 years.
The photograph, included in documents released by the US Department of Justice as it investigates sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was taken in 2006 during a science symposium at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, St Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands, where Hawking gave a speech on quantum cosmology.
Hawking’s name appears hundreds of times in the Epstein files, although simply being identified in the documents does not indicate any wrongdoing.
Hawking has previously been seen in photographs taken on Epstein’s Caribbean island, although no pictures of him and the convicted paedophile together are known to exist.
He was among 21 scientists who visited St Thomas and Epstein’s 75-acre private island, Little Saint James, for a science event.
According to the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, in 2012, guests met to “discuss, relax on the beach, and take a trip to the nearby private island retreat” during the event “to determine what the consensus is, if any, for defining gravity”.
Two years ago, court documents revealed that Epstein told his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell she could offer a financial reward to friends of his accuser Virginia Giuffre if they could “help prove” an apparent allegation Hawking had engaged in an “underage orgy” was false.
A photograph released in 2015 showed Hawking in his wheelchair at an outdoor dinner on Little Saint James with several other people.
Another picture shows the cosmologist in a submarine, having a tour of the island’s seabed.
Epstein had reportedly modified the underwater vessel to allow Hawking to get into it.
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.”
This article was amended on 25 February 2026 to include the statement from the spokesperson for the Hawking family.
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