Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking (January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018) was a British theoretical physicist and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Hawking's documented connection to Jeffrey Epstein spans at least 2006 to 2015, with evidence of Epstein serving as a gatekeeper controlling access to Hawking. In March 2006, Hawking attended Epstein's "Confronting Gravity" symposium in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, alongside twenty top physicists including three Nobel Prize winners. During this visit, Epstein paid to have a submarine modified to accommodate Hawking's wheelchair — an extraordinary personal expense Epstein later boasted about in emails, writing: "when hawking came to my island and said his dream was to go diving, i ducted tape his head to a high back chair and loaded him in a private sub."

Hawking returned to Epstein's Little St. James island for another physics conference in 2012, four years after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor. Documents state that "three Nobel Prize winners were in attendance. Stephen Hawking was also there. All in all, Epstein had gathered twenty-one physicists — from Princeton, Harvard, MIT, and CERN."

In December 2018, Epstein emailed: "No kidding one girl said she had sex with my friend Steven hawking." In January 2015, Epstein launched a coordinated PR denial campaign specifically addressing Hawking allegations, emailing media figures Michael Wolff and Mortimer Zuckerman claiming his ex-girlfriend "knows no sex with steven hawking." In a separate email to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein referenced "the new version in the virgin islands that stven hawking participated in an underage orgy" and suggested offering rewards to anyone who could disprove these allegations. Hawking is formally named in court discovery requests in the Giuffre v. Maxwell case alongside Ghislaine Maxwell, Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore.

An anonymous email in the files states a complainant "accused stephen hawking and marvin minsky" alongside Prince Andrew. Epstein served as a gatekeeper to Hawking's contact information. In 2013, Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky asked Epstein if Microsoft could approach Hawking about a Super Bowl commercial voice-over.

In 2015, when Steven Pinker needed Hawking's email for a Huffington Post interview, the request was routed through Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff. Physicist Lawrence Krauss provided Hawking's email through Epstein's network, noting: "I don't normally give out email addresses, even to friends... but I guess since Jeffrey flew stephen on a plane it is ok." Hawking died on March 14, 2018, and cannot respond to allegations.