Elon Musk reportedly offered to trade a horse for an erotic massage, leading to $250,000 harassment payoff

Elon Musk propositioned a flight attendant on his private jet while she was giving him a full body massage, and when she declined to perform a sex act, Musk's SpaceX cut back her hours, leading to an eventual $250,000 settlement, Insider reports, citing documents from the confidential settlement and interviews with the fight attendant's friend. The friend prepared a declaration for the flight attendant's 2018 sexual harassment claim, recounting what the attendant told her right after the 2016 incident.

According to the declaration, SpaceX encouraged the contract flight attendant to get a massage license, telling her it would lead to more flights on Musk's jet. Musk called her in "for a full body massage," and when she went into his private cabin, Musk "was completely naked except for a sheet covering the lower half of his body," the declaration recounts, according to Insider. During the massage, Musk "exposed his genitals" and then "touched her and offered to buy her a horse if she would 'do more,' referring to the performance of sex acts."

"The attendant, who rides horses, declined and continued with the massage without engaging in any sexual conduct," Insider adds. She intended to carry on as if nothing had happened, the friend said, but "she started to feel as if she was receiving some sort of retaliation where her shifts were cut back, and she was starting to feel really stressed."

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Musk told Insider via email that there is "a lot more to this story," which he characterized as a "politically motivated hit piece," adding: "If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light." SpaceX vice president of legal Christopher Cardaci told Insider he is " not going to comment on any settlement agreements."

The flight attendant and her lawyer declined to comment for the article, and the friend told Insider she came forward to tell the story, without informing the attendant, because Musk "is the richest man in the world" and she feels a responsibility not to be part of the "machine that allows someone like Elon Musk to continue to do the horrible things that he's done" with no real accountability

Read the entire story at Insider.