‘They Are Caregivers’: Stephen Hawking's Family Responds To His Photo With Bikini-Clad Women

Last Updated:February 26, 2026, 12:58 IST

According to a representative for the Hawking estate, the photograph was taken in March 2006 at the five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St. Thomas.

A stunning photograph of late renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking positioned between two women in bikinis has gained significant attention online as his connections to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have resurfaced in public discourse.

The image, published earlier this week by the Daily Mail, showed the late physicist reclining on a blue lounge chair at what appears to be a resort setting, smiling while holding a red cocktail and positioned between two bikini-clad women. The women’s faces were redacted in files released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

However, Hawking’s family said that the women were his long-term caregivers.

According to a representative for the Hawking estate, the photograph was taken in March 2006 at the five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St. Thomas during a scientific symposium on quantum cosmology. The event was funded and organised by Epstein and reportedly attended by around 20 internationally recognised scientists, Daily Mail reported.

He said that the two women in the photograph were Hawking’s “long-term carers from the UK," who assisted him throughout much of his adult life as he lived with motor neurone disease (ALS), a condition that left him reliant on a wheelchair, ventilator, voice synthesiser and round-the-clock medical support.

“Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct on his part is wrong and far-fetched in the extreme," a spokesperson for the Hawking family told the British tabloid.

The Hawking estate declined to comment on who took the photograph or how it became part of the Epstein-related files but reiterated that any suggestion of misconduct by the scientist was unfounded.

The resurfaced photo came amid renewed public scrutiny of documents released by the DOJ related to Epstein. Hawking’s name reportedly appeared more than 250 times within the collection of court documents, contact records and communications linked to the disgraced financier.

One reference cited in media reports concerns a January 2015 email from Epstein to his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in which Epstein discussed allegations made by accuser Virginia Giuffre. In the email, Epstein referred to a claim that Hawking had participated in an “underage orgy" in the Virgin Islands and described the allegation as false, suggesting efforts to disprove it.

Hawking never faced formal charges or accusations of misconduct during his lifetime. He died in March 2018 at the age of 76, more than five decades after being diagnosed with early-onset ALS.

Epstein was first charged in Florida with soliciting prostitution. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died in custody the same year.

In a statement issued last month, the DOJ said reviewers were instructed to redact information solely to protect victims and their families, adding that prominent public figures and politicians were not shielded from disclosure.

News world ‘They Are Caregivers’: Stephen Hawking's Family Responds To His Photo With Bikini-Clad Women

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