Angry that cave rescuer Vernon Unsworth made fun of his ridiculous rescue submarine, Elon Musk called him a “pedo” and, later, a “child rapist,” then dared him to sue over the remarks. Unsworth has filed his lawsuit.
The defamation lawsuit will extend an episode that has made even Musk’s biggest supporters squirm, with several inside Tesla, Musk’s electric automaker, questioning why he remains so committed to doubling down on what they regard as a self-inflicted embarrassment.
Unsworth is seeking more than $75,000 to compensate for the “worldwide damage” he suffered following Musk’s attacks, uttered by Musk in July to his more than 22 million Twitter followers. Unsworth, through his attorney, said Musk’s claim was baseless and lacked evidence.
“Elon Musk falsely accused Vern Unsworth of being guilty of heinous crimes,” Unsworth’s attorney, L. Lin Wood, said in a statement. “Musk’s influence and wealth cannot convert his lies into truth or protect him from accountability for his wrongdoing in a court of law.”
A similar lawsuit was filed in London, where libel laws are more plaintiff-friendly. Unsworth is British, though, and Musk’s remarks are completely bonkers, so it’s not as if Unsworth is forum-shopping.
Even if Musk has some oppo-research dirt on Unsworth he’s been sat on all this time, and there’s no evidence at all that he has, what’s the point? Musk’s behavior has the air of pathology about it in general, and this only reminds everyone of the whole of it.