How Elon Musk is trying to explain away his 'pedo guy' insult in court

Elon Musk.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is desperately trying to explain his bizarre "pedo guy" tweets in court.

Musk is being sued for defamation after in 2018 publicly attacking Vernon Unsworth, a diver who helped rescue soccer players trapped in a Thailand cave, by calling him a "pedo guy" on Twitter and later a "child rapist" among other repeated insults. Musk had lashed out after Unsworth dismissed his plan to rescue the players using a mini submarine as a "stunt."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Despite this, Musk then describes how he learned through a private investigator "disturbing information" about Unsworth, including that he allegedly began a relationship with his wife when she was "around twelve years old." It was after hearing this that Musk would accuse Unsworth of being a "child rapist" in an email to BuzzFeed News he says he thought was off the record. In other words, Musk seems to be saying, the insult wasn't serious, until it was.

Musk's defamation trial is set for October.

Explore More
Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.