Elon Musk’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by a caver was denied by a Los Angeles judge today, Bloomberg reported. The defamation suit centers on tweets where Musk called the caver, Vernon Unsworth, a “pedo guy.” Musk also sent emails to BuzzFeed journalist Ryan Mac, which are now part of the case.
Elon Musk will go to trial over “pedo guy” tweets, judge rules
The defamation suit moves forward
The defamation suit moves forward
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is a reporter who writes about tech, money, and human behavior. She joined The Verge in 2014 as science editor. Previously, she was a reporter at Bloomberg.
A jury will decide whether those tweets and emails count as recklessly negligent, US District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled.
The debacle began during a Thai rescue operation, when a group of boys were trapped in a cave. Musk, along with some of his engineers, built a mini submarine that they sent to Thailand. Unsworth dismissed the mini sub in a CNN interview as a “PR stunt,” and said Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts.” In response, Musk tweeted several things, culminating in a now-deleted, “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.” Musk apologized. Then, a month later, he called Unsworth a “child rapist” in an email to Mac.
“I fucking hope he sues me,” Musk wrote in an email to Mac. Unsworth did.
Apparently after his initial tweets, Musk hired a private investigator to dig into Unsworth’s past, according to court documents filed earlier this month. That private investigator, however, was a convicted felon. In an email to Mac, Musk said Unsworth had married a 12-year-old in Thailand. According to Unsworth, that isn’t even what the private investigator told Musk. Unsworth says he met his wife in London — and she was 32 at the time.
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