Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Elon Musk Beat The "Pedo Guy" Defamation Suit In A Dramatic Victory

Elon Musk Beat The "Pedo Guy" Defamation Suit In A Dramatic Victory

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk successfully defended himself in a lawsuit brought by a British cave explorer after a California-based jury found that the billionaire had not defamed the plaintiff by calling him a “pedo guy” on Twitter. “The people that read Musk's tweet wouldn’t have known who he was talking about".

On his way out of the court, the billionaire entrepreneur, who testified earlier this week, said, “My faith in humanity is restored." Vernon Unsworth, the 64-year-old plaintiff, who sat mostly stone-faced through the four-day trial, remained silent as the verdict was read. His legal team had suggested a judgment of $190 million in various damages but in the end could not get the jury to vote in its favor.

The lawsuit stemmed from a series of four tweets that Musk sent in July 2018 that insulted Unsworth, a Brit who had been heavily involved in the rescue of a boys soccer team and their coach from a cave system in Thailand earlier that month. In those tweets, Musk called the man “sus” and a “pedo guy.” This was after Unsworth gave an interview in which he criticized the Tesla CEO's efforts to get involved in the cave rescue by building a submarine tube -which was ultimately never used and never proven to work -to extract the boys.

The decision came down to the notion that a reasonable person could not read Musk's "pedo guy" tweet and determine that it was associated with Unsworth. “The judge laid out five points for defamation as soon as we got to point two, which was about being acquainted [with the defamed person], we decided,” said Carl Shusterman, a Los Angeles attorney who served on the jury. “The people that read Musk's tweet wouldn’t have known who he was talking about.”

During the trial, Unsworth and his lawyers, led by attorney Lin Wood, argued that any reasonable person who saw Musk’s words in the news or on Twitter, where the billionaire had around 22 million followers at the time, would have interpreted the words as direct allegations of pedophilia. Musk and his lawyers, led by attorney Alex Spiro, portrayed the tweets as a tit-for-tat response in “an argument between two men” and defended them as insults, not accusations.

Importantly, Spiro and his team also pointed out that the four tweets in question from Musk never mentioned Unsworth by name. During the trial, Musk made it clear, however, that the tweets were about British caver.


While Musk deleted his July 2018 tweets about Unsworth, who had previously given a CNN interview accusing the Tesla CEO of using the rescue as a publicity stunt, he later doubled down in follow-up tweets and in emails to a BuzzFeed News reporter. In a tweet from August 2018, he had asked why Unsworth hadn’t sued him yet if the accusation weren’t true. He then sent an email to a BuzzFeed News reporter suggesting that Unsworth was a “child rapist” who had taken a 12-year-old “child bride.”

Unsworth’s legal team did not use Musk’s emailed claims to the reporter to establish defamation, but did enter them as evidence to show the billionaire’s state of mind when he wrote his tweets in July 2018. Judge Stephen V. Wilson instructed the jury not to use the emails to the BuzzFeed News reporter to establish defamation, despite their incendiary claims, but did allow them to be used to characterize Musk.

Unsworth's lawyers also showed how the head of Musk’s family office, working on the billionaire’s orders, had hired a private investigator in August 2018 to dig up dirt on Unsworth and attempt to confirm that he was a pedophile.

In the end, the jury of three men and five women in the Los Angeles federal court sided with Musk after a trial that saw the Tesla CEO testify on Tuesday and Wednesday, but remained absent from other trial proceedings until Friday. Legal experts were surprised the case went to trial at all given the propensity of most parties to settle and the difficulty of achieving a favorable plaintiff’s verdict for defamation.

Speaking after the trial, a sullen Unsworth, who was wearing a cave rescue lapel pin, said he respected the jury verdict and would "take it on the chin." Mark Stephens, his UK-based lawyer, framed the decision to move forward with the trial as a case where "billionaire bully" Musk gave them no choice: "sue or true."

Spiro declined comment after trial. Another juror on her way out of the court's elevator following the decision declined to be interviewed, saying only that the case "was very clear."

Wood, while introspective, remained fiery in an interview with BuzzFeed News following the decision. Having called Musk a "liar," a "bully," and a man who looked to capitalize on the rescue dilemma, the Atlanta-based lawyer said he had no regrets about his words.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
×