Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, 72, schooled an Elon Musk fan during a Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival.
After the screening of Gibney’s Musk documentary, which highlights Musk’s descent into tech-lord corruption, an audience member asked the director if he’d rather live in a world “without the accomplishments of Elon Musk.”
Gibney laughed before responding.
“Tesla was not founded by Elon Musk. He wasn’t the key inventor. SpaceX also was founded by a lot of powerful and important engineers,” Gibney said, alluding to Tesla co-founders Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard, the latter of whom he interviewed for the film.
Since its Sept. 8 premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, Musk has stirred a typhoon of online praise and criticism; much of the criticism comes from Musk himself, who claimed on X that the four-hour documentary is “boring” and a “hit piece.”
Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro even threatened legal action against the film for what he says is a false insinuation that Musk used his Starlink satellites to boost Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
“We therefore have no choice but to put you on formal legal notice regarding your upcoming ‘piece’ and to reserve all rights,” he wrote in a letter to the production. “Our door is open if you decide to check your facts with the people who know them. If not, we will proceed accordingly.”
Gibney’s team clapped back with a statement asserting Gibney’s legitimacy as an investigator and documentarian.
“Alex Gibney’s films are consistently recognized for their in-depth, fact-driven explorations of influential figures and corporations, coupled with his bold and engaging directorial style,” the statement said, continuing, “The right to engage in open debate and fact-based examinations of powerful public figures is protected by the First Amendment—something that should be recognized and defended by all Americans, including the associates of Elon Musk, who has proclaimed himself to be a ‘free speech absolutist.’”
Gibney opened the post-screening Q&A in Toronto by stating that Musk “threatened to sue us” over the film.
“So, that should give you some sense of how much—at least so far—the ‘free speech absolutist’ is encouraging speech that he doesn’t like,” he said.
