Elon Musk attempted to leak unverified information to the press to denigrate and discredit his opponent in a defamation suit, according to newly released court documents. The billionaire CEO also called himself “a fucking idiot” for sending a journalist unverified information, the documents say.
Musk previously said, without evidence, that Vernon Unsworth, a British cave diver involved in the rescue of more than a dozen members of a boys’ soccer team in Thailand, was a “pedo guy” and a “child rapist” with a 12-year-old bride. In response, Unsworth has filed a defamation suit against Musk, whom he calls “a thin-skinned billionaire” in the new lawsuit filings, according to BuzzFeed News. To bolster his claim, according to emails obtained in discovery, Musk told his private investigator, a convicted felon, to spread rumors about Unsworth’s sexual activities to the press.
Musk began the feud because Unsworth, an expert cave diver, had criticized Musk’s attempt to involve himself in the rescue of the soccer team in 2018. The Tesla CEO had sent a submarine the rescue team deemed unnecessary. "This case is nothing but a money-grab in which Unsworth has hired an agent and pursued profit, publicity and self-promotion at every turn,” his lawyer said in a statement. “The truth of his motivations and actions will come out soon enough.”
