Jeffrey Epstein offered money to shut down Stephen Hawking 'underage orgy' claim

Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was prepared to reward one of his victim’s friends if they could "prove her allegations false" – including that Professor Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy, court documents have revealed.

An email from Epstein to British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell showed he was content for her to "issue a reward" to any of Virginia Giuffre’s friends to counter her claims, shortly after she filed a civil claim in the US in 2015.

The email read: "You can issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, acquaints, or family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false.

"The strongest is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands that Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy."

Also published among the court documents as part of Giuffre’s civil claim against Maxwell was the transcript of the socialite’s videotaped evidence given under oath.

During her interview, known in the US as a deposition, Maxwell claimed she could only recall Prince Andrew on Epstein’s island once.

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

The duke was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

Asked whether any girls under the age of 18 were present on that one occasion, Maxwell replied: "There were no girls on the island at all.

"No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house.

"Girls meaning, I assume you are asking underage, but there was nobody female outside of the cooks and the cleaners."

The names of more than 170 people included in the court files who were either associates, friends or victims of Epstein are set to be made public following a US judge’s order last month.

Those listed include "alleged victims, people not accused of wrongdoing…and absent third parties." It's worth noting that despite individuals being identified in the documents, it does not mean they were necessarily involved or aware of Epstein's crimes.

The first tranche of documents was released on Wednesday evening (3 January) with high-profile figures such as the Duke of York and former US President Bill Clinton featuring heavily. Clinton has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

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