Rhianna Benson
The family of Stephen Hawking have rushed to his defence following the release of images showing the late cosmologist posing alongside two bikini-clad women on Jeffrey Epstein's private island.
The image was just one of the 3 million documents made public by the US Department of Justice following the November passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Hawking is also one of the many A-list individuals to appear in the files, alongside the likes of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and Lord Peter Mandelson. However, it is important that inclusion in the files doesn't imply any wrongdoing.
One photo released recently shows Hawking smiling from a daybed in front of a palm tree, flanked by two women wearing dark-coloured bikinis.
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They each hold a lemon-coloured cocktail, with the lady on the left also seen holding out a strawberry-pink beverage in front of the British scientist.
According to Metro, the photograph was captured during a trip to the US Virgin Islands that Epstein had funded in 2006, two years before the latter was first charged for soliciting a child for prostitution.
As a reminder, the paedophile privately owned two islands in the area - Little St James and Great St James.
Alongside Hawking, 21 other scientists had attended the group holiday, alongside two of his carers.
Another image, captured at a nighttime BBQ at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on nearby St. Thomas Island, shows the Oxford University professor conversing with a red-haired woman. During the same event, the theoretical physicist reportedly delivered a speech to attendees on Quantum Cosmology.
In a third, a blonde lady poses with her arm wrapped around Hawking as they look through the window of an underwater submarine together.
It's important to note, however, that Epstein and Hawking are never photographed together.
As we say, however, in light of the backlash Hawking has since received for the images, his family have released a statement publicly defending the late genius, who sadly died in 2018.
"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," their official response began.
"Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct on his part is wrong and far-fetched in the extreme."
Also released in documents was an email sent from neuroscientist David Grosof to Epstein, telling him to leak the images of Hawkins on the submarine and claim they formed part of a 'Make-A-Wish' foundation voyage.
"If I were your PR person, I’d be preparing to release some photographs or video of Hawking going into the submarine in/near the USVI (2006, right?) and a story about a 'conference organizer and science philanthropist' who asked him what he wanted to do that he hadn’t done yet, and then did the 'Make-A-Wish' type magic of making it happen," Grosof wrote.
"Then, especially if it goes viral, a follow-on story/a leak/a comment/ about how the organiser was you (or you and the rest of the conference team). You did a good thing!"