Famed skateboarder Tony Hawk is clearing the air after online rumors that he got married at convicted *** abuser Jeffrey Epstein’s island, a claim the Birdman called “misinformation.”
“Here are the facts and timelines of my nuptials, and I apologize if they don’t fit a narrative of nonsense,” Hawk, who married four times, began an Instagram story he posted on Thursday.
Skateboarder Tony Hawk is speaking out against rumors that he visited the private island of late *** trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Rasid Necati Aslim /Anadolu via Getty Images
Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost.
The skateboarder clarified that his weddings took place at his home in Fallbrook, California, the Hilton Hotel in San Diego, Tavarua Surf Island in Fiji, and at Adare Manor in Ireland — none of which are Little Saint James, Epstein’s private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Rumors about Hawk stemmed from an email dated Oct. 22, 2024, written by a special agent with the FBI investigating a case involving a minor allegedly being trafficked. The Department of Justice released the email as part of a batch of files made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act in which multiple celebrities and high-profile people were named.
The email stated that the victim reported that “she was taken from Ireland and brought to Jeffrey Epstein Island when she was 13 years old,” and “she was there when Prince Edward was there and when Tony Hawk got married on the island.”
Coincidentally, one guest who attended Hawk’s 2006 wedding in Fiji is named Mark Epstein, who shares the same name as the convicted *** abuser’s younger brother. That guest also shot photos at Hawk’s wedding.
One of the photos of Tony Hawk and his then-bride Lhotse Merriam taken at their 2006 wedding by photographer Mark Epstein. Mark Epstein via Getty Images
Hawk’s wedding guest has no relation to late *** trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, but is instead an “accomplished action sports photographer from Wyoming,” the skateboarder wrote.
Hawk maintains that he never met Jeffrey Epstein, nor has he ever visited his island.
“This is all easily verifiable information,” Hawk wrote. “Facts are not fungible.”
The Republican speaker announced Thursday that he’s taking the unusual step of becoming the lead House sponsor on the bill aimed at luring the planned new stadium for the National Football League team into northwest Indiana.
Huston told reporters he was focusing on discussions about a possible deal for the stadium.
“I’m going to spend the next two days up in Lake County and Porter County having conversations with local elected officials to do everything we can,” Huston said.
The state Senate last week endorsed Senate Bill 27 that would create the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority.
That state body that would have the power to acquire land, issue long-term bonds and finance the construction of a professional football stadium and related facilities.
The bill, however, does not specify how much taxpayer money would go toward the project and which local taxes might be tapped. It also doesn’t include details of what, if anything, the Bears would contribute to the new stadium.
Huston said he didn’t have any meetings set with Bears officials, indicating that Gov. Mike Braun’s staff has “done a fantastic job. It’s been a cooperative effort.”
Hammond mayor calls site evaluation “advanced”
Bears officials have publicly explored relocating to northwest Indiana amid stalled negotiations in Illinois over a proposed stadium development in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott during a 2022 debate. (Photo by Darron Cummings/Associated Press)
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that he would be meeting with Huston and the speaker would tour a possible stadium site in the city that’s being evaluated by Bears and state officials.
McDermott said Thursday he believed Indiana’s bid for the Bears relocation is “extremely serious.”
“I think it’s advanced,” he said. “I could confirm that a huge amount of money has been spent by the state of Indiana and by the Chicago Bears.”
McDermott said millions of dollars have been spent by the team and the state so far.
“Environmental research, all kinds of consultants and attorneys and engineers,” he said. “If the Bears are going to make a move of this magnitude, they’ve got to know full well what they’re getting themselves into. They want to make sure that it’s a good situation.”
Braun not detailing negotiations
Braun’s office did not answer questions Thursday about the status of the negotiations with the Bears.
But the governor told the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Tuesday that he wanted to see a deal reached with the Bears before the end of this year’s legislative session, which is expected to conclude Feb. 27.
“We’re getting down to a point where there’s been enough due diligence, and when it comes to who’s going to pay for what, I think that’s going to be worked out in a model, maybe similar to the Colts, may vary a little bit. It’ll depend on how we flesh that out,” Braun said. “Some of it will need to be done just through negotiations.”
Public financing covered most of the $720 million cost of building Lucas Oil Stadium for the Indianapolis Colts but the team contributed about $100 million. The stadium opened in 2008, with the money coming from a variety of taxes that include food and beverage sales taxes in Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said many details are still to be sorted out but called the discussions productive.
“We don’t have any idea if this is going to happen. I don’t have any details to give you,” he said. “We want to put our hand forward and said, we’d love to do business with you. We’d love to have them. And I think, frankly, we’ve got a really, really, really good product here in Indiana and northwest Indiana to to house them that would be more advantageous than Illinois.”
Huston said he has great interest in getting a stadium deal done.
“I think it’s an incredible economic opportunity for northwest Indiana and for the state of Indiana,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be moving something forward soon.”
McDermott said the cooperation of the governor’s office and legislative leaders was “impressive” in pursuit of the stadium project.
“I’ve been mayor 23 years and I’ve never seen any project as advanced as this, in as much detail as this, but that makes sense, because we’re talking about a multibillion dollar investment,” he said. “It’s transformational for my city.”
WASHINGTON – Vice President JD Vance recognized the sacrifices that U.S. athletes made to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy and encouraged them to "win as many medals as possible" as the Milano Cortina games open Feb. 6.
Vance added that his wife Usha isn’t much of a sports fan but that “every two years, she makes us obsessively watch the Olympics, and that’s been true since the moment I started dating her.”
Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to attend the Opening Ceremony in the San Siro soccer stadium. Vance also plans to meet with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the day, according to the vice president’s office.
The Vances attended an International Olympics Committee dinner Feb. 5. Earlier in the day, the Vances brought their children – Ewan, 8; Vivek, 5; and Mirabel, 4 – to watch a preliminary women’s hockey game between the U.S. and Czech Republic teams.
Vance joined the chants of "USA, USA, USA" with the crowd after Joy Dunne sent the U.S. team up 2-0 on the way to a 5-1 win. Fans in the 5,800-seat Milano Rho arena didn't appear to notice the politicians.
Diplomats in the delegation include Rubio and the U.S. ambassador to Italy, Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire businessman who owns Landry’s restaurants, the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos and the Houston Rockets basketball team.
The Vances arrived in Milan about 10 a.m. local time on Feb. 5. Two Carabinieri honor guards flanked the red-carpet welcome that included Fertitta and Salvatore Pasquariello, the prefect of Varese.
At the welcome center, the Vance children got credentials on lanyards and souvenir Ralph Lauren teddy bear Olympics pins.
Ray Allen of the Seattle SuperSonics shoots against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 1, 2006, at Key Arena in Seattle. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
With the NBA considering a possible expansion, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson met Thursday with the league’s commissioner to offer assistance in returning the SuperSonics to Seattle.
Ferguson had reached out to set what his spokesperson called an introductory meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The two didn’t meet in person.
“As a kid, the governor grew up attending many Sonics games, and attending the Lenny Wilkens basketball camp,” spokesperson Brionna Aho said in an email. She said Ferguson and Silver “had a good conversation, and the governor offered to be helpful.”
Aho clarified later that Ferguson specifically “offered to be helpful in bringing back the Sonics.”
Ferguson’s public calendar was updated Wednesday afternoon, showing an 11:15 a.m. meeting Thursday with Silver. This set off alarm bells for local basketball fans yearning for their team back 18 years after the Sonics left.
The NBA didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Late last year, Silver indicated the league would decide in 2026 whether to pursue expansion, while floating Seattle and Las Vegas as two likely destinations. Seattle has been awaiting news of a return of its beloved SuperSonics for years, with no luck.
The city lost the team, owned by Starbucks executive Howard Schultz, to Oklahoma City in 2008. The Oklahoma City Thunder won its first NBA title last season.
Five years later, Seattle sports fans had hoped they’d get a team to return when the Sacramento Kings reportedly reached a deal with a local ownership group, including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, to buy the Kings and relocate. But other NBA owners rejected the relocation attempt, keeping the team in Sacramento.
Ballmer has since purchased the Los Angeles Clippers.
Expanding the NBA back to Seattle is expected to cost an ownership group billions of dollars, as franchise values have surged alongside lucrative media rights deals. But current team owners would have to approve, and more teams means they’d be giving up a slice of their revenue.
Since the Sonics left, Seattle has replaced the aging Key Arena with the state-of-the-art Climate Pledge Arena, with the hopes of adding professional men’s basketball to the NHL’s Kraken, WNBA’s Storm and Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Torrent that currently call the arena home. Climate Pledge has hosted NBA preseason games in recent years.
As governor, Ferguson has shown his fandom for Seattle sports teams, especially as the Mariners and Seahawks have had playoff success since he took office last year. He even mentioned wanting to see the return of the SuperSonics in his State of the State address last month.
“We know that our work in professional sports is not done until we bring the Seattle SuperSonics back home,” Ferguson said.
The league has also expressed interest in international expansion, to cities like Mexico City and Vancouver, which had a team until it moved to Memphis in 2001.
Login
