What the unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents say — and don't say — about Stephen Hawking
- Stephen Hawking's name came up in the newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents.
- In 2015, Epstein offered to pay people to disprove an allegation that Hawking was in an "underage orgy."
- But the documents don't actually have any allegations against Hawking.
There's been a lot of chatter about Stephen Hawking's name appearing in thenewly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents — but has the renowned physicist been accused of anything?
Not according to the documents released so far.
A New York federal judgeunsealed the names of about 170 of the sex offender's associates in court documents that were publicly released on Wednesday — and the famed physicist's name shows up twice.
The most surprising time Hawking's name comes up is in an email Epstein sent to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted of sex trafficking, in 2015.
In the typo-ridden email, Epstein tells Maxwell to offer to pay anyone for information disproving a purported allegation from the Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre that Hawking was part of an "underage orgy."
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"You can issue a reward to any of virginias friends acquaionts family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false," Epstein wrote in the email. "The strongest is the clinton dinner, and the new version in the virgin isalnds that stven hawking partica-ted in an underage orgy."
Hawking did once visit Epstein's private Caribbean island for a conference in 2006, months before the financier was first charged with child sex offenses,The Independent reported.
The Independent reported Hawking even got a ride on a customized submarine.
He and other theoretical physicists were attending a conference on gravity on a nearby island — a gathering that Epstein bankrolled, the outlet reported.
Hawking hasn't been publicly accused of sexual misconduct involving Epstein. And the unsealed documents, from a civil lawsuit Giuffre filed against Maxwell in 2016, do not include any such allegations from Giuffre.
As for the reference to former President Bill Clinton in that email, the documents showed that a victim of Epstein testified in a deposition that the financier once remarked that the former president "likes them young."
The documents also showed that Giuffredenied ever flying to Epstein's private island with Clinton, contradicting media reports. (A later unsealed document included an allegation that Clinton pressured Vanity Fair to cover up Epstein's behavior, but Vanity Fair sourcesdenied her allegation was true.)
Hawking's name appears only one other time in the filing, in a list. Maxwell's attorneys are asking Giuffre whether she has pictures of the people on that list.
The Stephen Hawking Estate did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Therelease involving Hawking was the first batch of documents unsealed. A second batch was unsealed Thursday with more expected in the coming days.
Hawking died in 2018 after a lifelong battle with ALS. Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for trafficking minors.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visitits website to receive confidential support.
