Elon Musk did not defame British cave explorer Vernon Unsworth by calling him a “pedo guy” on Twitter, a Los Angeles jury found Friday.
Musk shook hands with his lawyer at the close of the four day trial in Los Angeles. He did not address Unsworth, whose team had told the court earlier on Friday the Tesla CEO should pay at least $190m in damages for his tweets about the diver.
“My faith in humanity is restored,” Musk told reporters in the hallways of the courtroom.
“I came here for a verdict and unfortunately it was not what I expected but I respect the jury’s decision,” Unsworth said after emerging from the courtroom about an hour after the verdict was read.
“The challenge that was thrown down by Elon Musk was that if you don’t sue it’s true,” said his lead attorney, L Lin Wood. “We sued because it’s false.”
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is being sued for libel and slander for calling a British rescue diver a “pedo,” has testified that he is short of funds. That’s according to the accuser’s lawyer in a legal filing seen by Bloomberg. The filing from the attorney of 63-year-old plaintiff Vernon Unsworth makes reference to “Musk’s sworn testimony that he is financially illiquid.”
While Elon Musk seems to have avoided accountability and serious repercussions relating to his "funding secured" fake buyout fiasco from last year, his feet may end up being held to the fire for a different social media outburst. As of now, it looks as though Musk will be heading to trial on October 22 as a result of his Tweet calling Thai cave diver Vern Unsworth a "pedo". A judge rejected Elon Musk's defense that he wasn't making a real accusation, partly because of a follow up e-mail that Musk wrote to BuzzFeed.
When Elon Musk called British cave diving hero Vern Unsworth "pedo guy" in response to Unsworth's criticism of Musk's idea for rescuing 12 teenagers trapped in a Thai cave, many people were stunned by the accusation but eventually just brushed it off... A motion to dismiss filed by Musk in the United States District Court Central District of California now seems to confirm that Musk was just simply making things up. It offers no evidence for his claims about Unsworth, but rather offers 25 pages of largely hollow rhetoric as to why his statements are not actionable.
The British cave diver who helped rescue 12 children in Thailand and who was hailed a hero by everybody in the world except Elon Musk – who instead decided to label him "pedo guy" and then later a "child rapist", has reportedly sued Musk for libel, assault and slander... Vernon Unsworth and his attorneys filed the suit in the US district court for the Central District of California, according to BuzzFeed. The Tesla CEO's tweets and emails to BuzzFeed were submitted as exhibits in the lawsuit. According to Bloomberg, Unsworth is seeking $76 million in damages.
Not even 7 days after we pondered what part of Elon Musk's PR genius compelled him to triple down on his claim that a British cave rescuer was a "pedo" than Musk was back at it. He has now reportedly quadrupled down on these claims, essentially going "all in" on his previous statements and labeling rescue diver Vern Unsworth a "child rapist" in an e-mail he sent to BuzzFeed news. But wait, there’s more. As an added touch, Musk also called BuzzFeed news reporter Ryan Mac a "fucking asshole."
Elon Musk appears to have doubled down on his claim that a British explorer who was instrumental in freeing a group of Thai boys trapped in a cave is a “pedo”
