Names and faces
■ Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has denied a claim of sexual misconduct by a flight attendant contracted by Space X who worked on his private jet in 2016. A report by Business Insider said SpaceX paid the woman $250,000 in severance in 2018 in exchange for her agreeing not to file a lawsuit. Several hours before it was published, Musk tweeted that he had previously voted for Democrats but would now vote for Republicans and suggested that the left would launch a “dirty tricks campaign” against him. The report was based on an account by the flight attendant’s friend, who said she told her about the incident shortly after it happened. According to the report, the flight attendant, who had trained as a masseuse so she could give Musk massages, said he exposed himself to her, rubbed her leg and offered to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage. The report also said the flight attendant was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement that prohibits her from discussing the payment or anything else about Musk and SpaceX. Musk, who is in the process of buying Twitter, used the platform to respond to the allegation. “And, for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue,” he wrote in response to a user who tweeted in support of him. He replied to another: “In my 30 year career, including the entire MeToo era, there’s nothing to report, but, as soon as I say I intend to restore free speech to Twitter & vote Republican, suddenly there is …” SpaceX has previously faced allegations of male workers sexually harassing women. One former SpaceX engineer who started as an intern wrote an online essay last year describing repeated sexual advances and other harassment she experienced. She said the company was “so rife with sexism, the only remedy is for women to leave.” Musk also made light of the accusation against him, quoting a tweet of his from 2021 in which he said if there was ever a scandal about him, it should be called “Elongate.” “Finally, we get to use Elongate as scandal name. It’s kinda perfect,” he tweeted Friday.
■ British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has announced the birth of his second daughter, saying he and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, were “over the moon” at the baby’s arrival. The Grammy award-winner posted a picture of baby socks on his Instagram page. “We are both so in love with her,” Sheeran, 31, said in the Thursday night post, without giving the child’s name. The couple welcomed their first daughter, Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran, in August 2020. Despite being in the spotlight for his music, Sheeran has remained private about his relationship with Seaborn.