After the release of a new batch of documents from the U.S. Department of Justice, there was speculation online that one of Tony Hawk’s weddings was held on a private Caribbean island once owned by Jeffrey Epstein. Tony Hawk issued a detailed public refutation of this. The 57-year-old skateboarding icon went straight to Instagram After social media users seized on third-party tips contained in the document and tried to link it to his personal life. Hawke said the allegation was “nonsense” and laid out a verified timeline of his four marriages, stressing that he had never met Epstein or visited his island.
How the claim emerged and the actual contents of the document
The confusion stems from FBI tips cited in newly released Epstein-related documents. this Document summary Threat intake examiners at the National Threat Operations Center recorded a call to the FBI tip hotline in which an unnamed woman claimed she was exploited as a minor and trafficked to multiple locations, including Little St. James. In recounting her accusation, the caller claimed she was on the island “when Prince Edward was there and Tony Hawk got married on the island.” The document did not confirm the claim and made clear it reflected the caller’s account. Names in the documents do not imply wrongdoing, and many of the entries are unsubstantiated tips or third-party claims. Hawke’s name appears three times in the document release. Two of the references had nothing to do with travel or personal interactions, but rather with email discussions about video games in 2010 Tony Hawk: Shredded. The remaining references are the unsubstantiated accusations mentioned above, which Hawke said are patently false.
Hawke’s Response: Timeline, Places and Sources of Confusion
Hawke responded via Instagram Stories, writing, “I apologize if they don’t fit the nonsense,” before listing the locations of each of his weddings:
- 1990:Fallbrook, CA (at home)
- 1996: San Diego, California (Hilton Hotel)
- 2006: Fiji (Tavarua Surf Island)
- 2015: Ireland (Adele Estate)
None of these locations overlap with Epstein’s previous properties in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He said the speculation likely stemmed from his third wedding in 2006 on the Fiji island of Tavarua. Photos of the ceremony were later licensed to Getty Images and were taken by a photographer named Mark Epstein.
Hawke explains that his 2006 wedding to Lotzi Merriam took place in Fiji, not on Epstein’s island (Mark Epstein/Getty Images)
Hawke made this clear: “In 2006, a guest took photos of the Fijian ceremony and licensed them to Getty Images. His name was (coincidentally) Mark Epstein.” He added that the photographer was “a great extreme sports photographer from Wyoming” and had “no relation” to Jeffrey Epstein.
Photo credit: @tonyhawk/Instagram
For context, Jeffrey Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein, was a New York real estate developer. The common surname seemed to cause confusion. “This is easily verifiable information,” Hawke wrote. “Facts are irreplaceable.” He apologized to photographers for being “sucked into a vortex of misinformation.” Hawke, a father of four and a household name outside of the skateboarding community, concluded by reiterating that he had never been to Epstein’s island and had no personal contact with the late financier, emphasizing that claims circulating online do not hold up under basic fact-checking.
