Elon MuskJury Sides With Elon Musk in 'Pedo Guy' Defamation Suit
After less than 30 minutes of deliberations, jurors found that Musk did not defame British cave explorer Vernon Unsworth, whom the CEO referred to as a "pedo guy" on Twitter.
December 06, 2019 at 06:06 PM
2 minute read
A Los Angeles federal jury on Friday sided with tech CEO Elon Musk in a defamation lawsuit brought by British cave explorer Vernon Unsworth.
After less than 30 minutes of deliberations, jurors found that Musk did not defame Unsworth, whom the CEO referred to as a "pedo guy" on Twitter.
The dispute between Unsworth and Musk that led to the defamation suit broke out in the wake of the rescue of a Thai youth soccer team from a flooded cave last year in which both participated. Unsworth, in a July 2018 interview with CNN, called a submersible tube Musk designed for the rescue effort a "PR stunt" and said Musk "can stick his submarine where it hurts."
Musk responded in a now-deleted Twitter message that he and his team never saw "this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus)" while working at the caves. "Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it," Musk added. Musk deleted the "pedo guy" tweet and apologized on Twitter on July 18. But according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Central District of California by high-profile defamation lawyer L. Lin Wood, Musk continued to press his allegations that Unsworth was a pedophile in his email exchange with a Buzzfeed reporter, resulting in further coverage.
Wood did not immediately respond to a message Friday afternoon.
Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, said in an email, "The jury got it right."
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