this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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Context: He's in the files

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[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 29 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What the fuck is he in the files for? What did he allegedly do? He’s bound to the chair!

[–] mirshafie@europe.pub 51 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Likely lots of people who had contact with Epstein did nothing wrong, at least not on that level.

He was collecting powerful people, in science, business, government, anything. One way to do that is to offer access to other important people. The ability to say to someone "I can connect you with Stephen Hawking" is currency.

The pedophilia ring and sex trafficking is the exact same thing -- just a way to appeal to certain people.

I think it's more interesting to talk about who the fuck gave Epstein a private island in one of the most stupidly expensive spits of sand on the entire planet. Likely the same people who killed him.

[–] Soulcreator@programming.dev 8 points 1 week ago

It's not like Hawking and Epstein traded a few emails talking about science, or had a one off meeting. It appears they had a fair amount of exchanges over a long period of time.

Epstein was a vile human in the worst kind of way and I see no evidence that Hawking was blind to this fact. Half the people on this app wouldn't willingly associate with someone of a different political party than them, but to defend a man who willingly spent time with a convicted sex trafficker? The fact that Hawking was paralyzed doesn't absolve him from willingly enabling (and potentially partaking in) child abuse and sex trafficking.

[–] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I know one person IRL who was a frequenter of Little St John Island, aka Epstein Island. Wealthy man who made that trip regularly. He was not particularly attractive but he was wealthy. This is the place old wealthy men would go to get sexual satisfaction when nobody else will give it to them.

[–] itistime 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

He's not famous. He's a very private person. Naming him would do no good. It would be like naming your next door neighbor. Nobody knows him.

[–] itistime 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Naming him would do no good.

That is not true. There is no accountability if people keep protecting them. Leak his name. It will help current investigators. It will help future prosecutors. If you don’t do it here or elsewhere, then YOU are not better than him.

[–] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If you don’t do it here or elsewhere, then YOU are not better than him.

🙄

He's my friend. I'm not going to doxx him on the internet under the meaningless pressure of some Lemmy stranger. He & I spent a whole year together having fun & biking & yoga & paddle boarding & swimming. The moment you begin to mean more to me than he does, then we'll talk.

[–] itistime 1 points 3 days ago

How is your behavior any different than the multitude in power and authority who turned a blind eye? Have you considered the life of those he abused? Have you considered the moral battle that is happening?

The moment you begin to mean more to me than he does, then we’ll talk.

Decency and a will against abject evil should be all that it takes to do the right thing. You don’t want to leak here? Fine. ProPublica.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It's a little ableist to suggest that his being wheelchair-bound would necessarily prevent him from being a pedophile.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

wheelchair-bound

Dude was fully paralyzed. Come one. Are you really that desperate to attack someone? Guy is asking a valid question.

[–] BanMe@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Then how did he have an affair?

Is power itself not enough to coerce someone, you're saying it has to be physical coercion? That would undo a lot of what we know about sexual assault.

I'm certainly not saying he did it, but "he's paralyzed" is not a good enough defense.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Its not a defense its a line of inquiry. Why do you think people asking what he's accused of are defending him? That doesn't make sense.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why are you suggesting that paralyzed people are somehow incapable?

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

ALS does not interfere with the ability to have erections or orgasms. If he became aroused he could get an erection, he'd just need to be on the recieving end due to his condition.

Even full on paraplegics have sex, they just use a special injection of Alprostadil beforehand.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I need you to understand something important. An erection and orgasm is absolutely not the same thing as raping a goddamn child.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Grow up. Take your heroes off their pedestal. Move on with your life.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I have no heroes. I’m an adult. Stop flinging weird accusations and deal with the post with an actual response.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 2 points 6 days ago

Let's take a look at thr comment chain

What we have here is you misunderstanding ALS and using that misunderstanding to defend a notorious philanderer who is all over the Epstein files.

Then I come in to correct you about the nature of Hawking's disease, and your overall ignorant view on disabled people's sexual abilities. I don't even say 'this means Hawking raped kids', I'm just correcting your ignorance here.

You then move the goal post while insulting me, hoping your hostility gets me to back away from the uncomfortable fact that you idolized a deeply flawed human being and are now providing free labour defending him in internet comments.

You may be an adult, but you clearly haven't grown up.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

little ablist

Oh FFS, cut it out already with the "ablist!!" screeching

The guy literally can only move his eyes, he literally can barely do anything without a support staff. He can breathe on his own, he can think on his own, that's about it

He cannot be a pedophile is not being ablisi, it's being realistic.

He was there for a scientific conference that was organized there.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He absolutely could have been a pedophile, it just would have been impossible to act on the urges without enablers.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As amusing as this slap fight is to watch, there’s an important point I think needs to be made.

The use of the word “pedophile” has multiple interpretations. (Yes I’m going to be that guy but follow me for a minute. I promise this is going somewhere.) For sake of argument, let’s look at the two most common uses: “is sexually attracted to children” and “fucks children”. I’m using fucks because that’s what that interpretation calls for. Consent is irrelevant, whether you think a child can give it or not. In the latter case we are discussing the physical act.

In the case of sexual attraction, I would imagine there are far more people in that crowd than most people realize. Don’t give me the studies and stats. I already have enough reasons to want to kill myself in 2026. I don’t want to know. Just acknowledge there is a number, we don’t have to like it. However, that’s not actionable by itself. It’s awful but it’s not relevant to anything. In the case of “Stephen hawking can be a pedophile without the ability to move his hips” this is correct. It is also entirely irrelevant because you know goddamn well what we are actually talking about.

Which brings me to the second interpretation, fucks children. In this use, the pedophile does a thing to a child. Not just fantasizes about it but actually does the thing. It’s cut and dry. THIS is what we are pissed about. When you see public outcry about pedophile stuff, it’s not about the pedantic argument of “well technically that’s not pedophilia.” Language is contextual. You know goddamn well that while most of us aren’t exactly thrilled about someone feeling arousal toward children, the thought itself is irrelevant. The action is.

A thought doesn’t harm children. It’s creeps us out and can serve as a warning sign of “you know, let’s not have Elon babysit. He’s either going to fuck it or eat it.”

What my post asked was what Stephen Hawking was accused of doing in the Epstein files. He’s not able to move his hips or legs of really any of his body in any weaponized capacity so I’m really wondering what the fuck his presence in the files is supposed to imply.

So please ignore the charged label and pay attention to the actual question:

What are people saying Stephen Hawking did on Epstein island?

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

No, there is one definition of pedophile, the second thing you described is called a child rapist. Naturally, the second is also usually the first, but the reverse is not so reliably true. Y'know, that classic square : rhombus :: child rapist : pedophile analogy. Pretty sure it used to be in the SATs.

I'm not saying he did anything anywhere or that he even was a pedophile, I really don't care either way. It's hard to prove and nearly impossible to disprove, since we still don't know how to read people's minds, especially dead people. The only horse I'm backing in this race is objective truth. Someone said he couldn't be a pedophile, which is just so obviously false 🤷‍♂️.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 0 points 6 days ago (2 children)

So are we talking using Hawking as a child-juicer kind of situation?

Follow the thought just a little bit farther. It’s ridiculous. You are pointing toward a more actionable definition of this. It’s not “a thought occurred” but “a child had sex inflicted upon them”

So if you asking if is it possible to insert a Stephen Hawking into a child I will admit that grim situation is possible.

But what it would take to pull such a thing off…it’s like if you explained Schrodinger’s cat to someone whose intellectual development stopped at watching Care Bears.

[–] itistime 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You’ve not been ridden before?

He would just need placed prone, and the poor victim forced atop.

It’s weird how you won’t concede something so obviously true.

[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

I literally just asked this. Right fucking there.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Idk what a child-juicer is, steroids really fuck with development so I don't recommend that. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

I'm not asking anything, I've only ever stated facts. You're the one who keeps going out of their way to describe child rape, even though no one in this entire thread said "Stephen Hawking was definitely a child rapist." No one's even claiming that he definitely was a pedophile. But he could have been, even without being in the Epstein files, there's a non-zero chance he was attracted to children. Which is true of every human on Earth.