Musk walks out as cave hero tells of ‘pedo’ taunt
TECH billionaire Elon Musk refused to listen to how he ruined the life of a British cave diver hero he branded a ‘pedo guy’.
The Tesla founder, who is being sued for defamation, gave evidence to a court but left without staying to hear Vern unsworth’s emotional testimony.
Mr unsworth, 64, then revealed that Musk’s taunts stopped him from enjoying his day out at Buckingham Palace in June to receive his MBE from Prince William.
He added: ‘I’ve probably lost a bit of self-confidence. I have good days and bad days.’
The financial adviser, from St Albans, played a lead role in rescuing 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand last July.
He became embroiled in a war of words with Musk after the South African tycoon offered a mini-submarine from his SpaceX rocket company to help with the rescue. Mr unsworth described it as a publicity stunt that would not work and told Us news that Musk should ‘stick his submarine where it hurts’.
Musk, 48, hit back by calling Mr unsworth a ‘pedo guy’ on Twitter. He later deleted the tweet and apologised, but only after he replied to another Twitter user saying: ‘Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.’
Giving evidence on the third day of the trial, Mr unsworth was asked if he would apologise to Musk.
He told jurors: ‘I’m not sure how I need to apologise. I said my opinion at the time and I stand by that.’
Referring to Musk’s submarine, he said: ‘My insult was to the tube and not to Mr Musk personally. I’m not sure how it would hurt somebody, it’s what I said at the time. I still believe it was a PR stunt.’
Mr unsworth, who splits his time between the Uk and Thailand, where he lives with his girlfriend, said he bottled up his feelings over Musk’s insult.
He is suing the entrepreneur for around £57,000 plus damages.
Speaking outside court in Los Angeles, British diver Rick Stanton, who helped in the rescue, said: ‘Watching Vern being questioned is the first time I’ve really seen the impact it’s had on him personally.
‘I think it’s shameful Elon Musk isn’t here to look him in the eye and see the damage that he’s caused.’
He praised Mr unsworth, who began caving as a hobby in 1971, for bringing in a crack team of international cave divers.
The former firefighter, 58, from Coventry, said after giving evidence: ‘Had Vernon not called us in, it would have been an entirely different result.
‘You needed hugely experienced cave rescue divers to fix the problem. That’s what they got and it was only through Vernon. He was absolutely pivotal.’
Musk claims he never intended to accuse the Briton of paedophilia and was only suggesting he was a ‘creepy old man’.
He has told the court that ‘pedo guy’ was a common insult in South Africa when he was growing up.
To win his lawsuit, Mr unsworth needs to show Musk was negligent in publishing something that was false, that clearly identified him and caused him harm.
He does not need to show that Musk acted with ‘actual malice’, which is far harder to prove.
The case continues.
‘It’s shameful Musk isn’t here’