Cave rescuer sues Elon Musk for libel over ‘pedo guy’ tweet
Elon Musk is being sued for libel by an English caver involved in the rescue of a Thai boys football team who were trapped in a flooded cave.
Mr Musk called the rescuer a paedophile on Twitter and in a subsequent email to a journalist implied the man was engaged in child sex trafficking.
Vernon Unsworth drew Mr Musk’s wrath after he told CNN that a mini submarine that Mr Musk built and sent to the cave to help rescue the children in July was “a PR stunt” and “had absolutely no chance of working”. Mr Unsworth’s comment prompted a series of tweets by Mr Musk, including on July 15 when he posted: “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”
Mr Musk apologised for the paedophile comment in two subsequent tweets, but the war of words erupted again last month, according to the lawsuit, when Mr Musk suggested in an email that Mr Unsworth was a child rapist and engaged in child sex trafficking.
Mr Musk and his representatives have yet to comment on the legal action. The complaint was filed on Monday in a federal court in Los Angeles.
Yesterday Mr Musk revealed that a Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon will be the first man to fly on his SpaceX rocket around the Moon, as early as 2023.
Mr Musk said Yusaku Maezawa, 42, would be the first lunar traveller since the last US Apollo mission in 1972.
“He stepped forward,” Mr Musk said. “We are honoured that he chose us.”
Mr Maezawa is the chief executive of Japan’s largest online fashion store, and is the 18th richest person in the country with a fortune of $3 billion (Dh11.01bn), according to the business magazine Forbes.
Mr Maezawa’s love of art led him to invite six to eight artists to come along, he said at SpaceX headquarters and rocket factory in Hawthorne, California, on Monday, “to inspire the dreamer in all of us”.
Mr Musk said he would not reveal the price Mr Maezawa paid for the Moon trip, but said it would be “free for the artists”.
“Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the Moon,” Mr Maezawa said. “This is my lifelong dream.”