‘Musk’ Director Breaks Down His Film’s Scariest Revelation
Alex Gibney shared what he discovered about Elon Musk’s “surveillance and control.”

Finn Gomez/Finn Gomez, Getty Images
Musk director Alex Gibney is sharing more information about the biggest revelation in his four-hour documentary on the world’s richest person.
While discussing the claims of Musk’s ex, Ashley St. Clair, who suggested the trillionaire manipulated the outcome of the 2024 election, Gibney said at the Variety Doc Dreams NYC on Monday, “I have to be careful with this one because this was the issue on which Elon’s lawyer threatened to sue us.”
Of all the revelations in the damning film, which has prompted several online meltdowns from Musk, St. Clair’s was the biggest bombshell.
Musk has complained about the film, and Gibney, in several posts on social media.
Nathan Howard/REUTERS
“What Ashley told us—and also showed us in terms of the texts she got from Elon—was Elon felt certain that Trump had won long before anybody else knew,” Gibney explained. “And she said, ‘Really? How did you know that?’ And then he sent her a text, and the text said, ‘I found an anomaly in the matrix, and I have 10,000 space lasers that help me understand this.’ Now, what does that mean? Well, obviously that refers in some way to Starlink.”
ADVERTISEMENT
But Gibney said the information did not make him think the worst.
Ashley St. Clair is featured in Alex Gibney's documentary "Musk".
Yves Herman/Yves Herman, Reuters
“Nobody thinks—at least I don’t, and I don’t believe Elon did either—that that means he switched votes in the election of 2024, but I do think it meant that he found some way to intercept signals of reporting from ballot places so that he knew well in advance,” he explained. “It puts in your mind this idea that Starlink is not just a means of communication; it’s a means of surveillance and control.”
Gibney said he believes St. Clair's claims show Musk’s ability to "control and surveil" through Starlink.
Yves Herman/REUTERS/Yves Herman
Musk complained about the film on X, “Gibney just assembled a hit list of people who either have an ax to grind or don’t even know me (but still have an ax to grind).” He added that Gibney “has ZERO integrity” and called the filmmaker a “horrible human.”
Sign Up for Our Obsessed Newsletter
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Musk jumped on the MAGA bandwagon in 2020, and later became Donald Trump’s most important supporter—shoveling almost $300 million into his 2024 re-election campaign and then nearly $500 million into the midterms’ MAGA candidates, after which the Blue Wave offered him almost no return on his investment.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk with President Donald Trump on October 08, 2026, in Washington, D.C., just over a year after Musk accused Trump of wrongdoing in connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
“Some people posit that it had to do with his trans daughter [Vivian Wilson],” Gibney said, disseminating theories about Musk’s sudden allegiance. “Some people posit that it had to do with regulations during COVID and a snub from Biden. We present all those in the film.”

Gibney said Musk cozied up to Trump to avoid jail time.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
“I honestly think that the primary reason he went for Trump was because he was facing something like 32 investigations by 11 different federal agencies, including a criminal investigation into fraud at Tesla—which would have landed him in prison if he had been convicted,” Gibney added.
Ultimately, Gibney said his investigation has led him to believe that Trump and Musk’s sometimes fraught bromance is purely “transactional.” (Last June, Musk dropped the “really big bomb” on X that Trump was in the Epstein files—he was swiftly forgiven.)
Musk went full-on MAGA during the COVID pandemic.
Nathan Howard/REUTERS/Nathan Howard
“I think he saw an opportunity to elect Trump and, knowing that he would be history’s most transactional president, knew that he could get rid of all those investigations,” the filmmaker concluded.
Musk is currently available for digital rental and purchase after spending just two weeks in theaters.
Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
- Account (completed)
- Payment (completed)
- Confirmation (completed)
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
- 1Account
- 2Payment
- 3Confirmation

ADVERTISEMENT
Sign in or create an account
Login dialog
Loading comments…
ADVERTISEMENT