Tesla CEO Elon Musk has filed a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the British cave diver that Musk accused of being a “pedo guy,” claiming “readers did not interpret Musk’s statements as factual assertions,” as well as admitting Musk is prone to “over the top insults.”
Elon Musk’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by hero cave diver Vern Unsworth, who Musk accused of being a pedophile with a “child bride.” The motion makes multiple claims, including that “readers did not interpret Musk’s statements as factual assertions.” The lawsuit stems from the Thai cave rescue crisis earlier this year.
As experts worked around the clock to save the Thai soccer team for an underwater cave, Elon Musk stepped in and offered his help. Initially, he offered the use of battery packs to run equipment at the site of the cave, but then his plans began to become more extravagant with Musk offering the use of a miniature submarine to transport the young boys out of the cave.
One British cave diving rescuer involved in the rescue operation was not impressed with Musk’s plan, believing it to be a PR stunt, stating in an interview: “He can stick his submarine where it hurts. It had absolutely no chance of working. He had no conception of what the cave passage was like. The submarine, I believe, was about five foot six long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone around corners or round any obstacles. It wouldn’t have made the first 50 meters into the cave from the dive start point. Just a PR stunt.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO responded to this by calling Unsworth a “pedo guy.” Musk stated in a tweet: “Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus) at any point when we were in the caves. Only people in sight were the Thai navy/army guys, who were great. Thai navy seals escorted us in — total opposite of wanting us to leave.” Musk added: “You know what, don’t bother showing the video. We will make one of the mini-sub/pod going all the way to Cave 5 no problemo. Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”
Now, Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation, a claim which Musk is attempting to dismiss by claiming that his statements were opinions, not accusations. BuzzFeed News reporter Ryan Mac published the full motion to dismiss the defamation lawsuit noting that Musk’s basic argument is that “his over-the-top insults are not statements of fact.”
Elon Musk just filed a motion to dismiss the defamation lawsuit brought against him by a British cave rescuer he called a “child rapist.” Musk’s underlying argument is that “his over-the-top insults are not statements of fact.” Here’s the filing: https://t.co/BZ9mIFSzeV
— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) December 27, 2018
In the motion for dismissal, Musk’s lawyer makes a number of claims as to why Musk’s tweets cannot be taken seriously. The dismissal claims that “Musk’s over-the-top insults are not statements of fact,” and that “Musk’s expressions of uncertainty show that his statements did not have a concrete factual foundation and were therefore opinion.”
Keep in mind, Musk didn’t just use the term “pedo guy” as an insult, he repeatedly claimed that Unsworth had a “child bride,” and told a BuzzFeed Reporter to do more research before defending a “child rapist,” as has been noted by other Twitter users:
$TSLAQ, He didn’t just say “he’s a pedo.” He kept saying “he took a child bride. His wife was under-age when they got married. He is a child rapist.” (paraph.) – this was his evidence. It wasn’t an insult. This was beyond any doubt in his head.$TSLA
— Gavran Teslaqov (@ravenvanderrave) December 27, 2018
Musk has previously stated: “I Fu**ing hope he sues me” when discussing Unsworth. Recently, Unsworth’s 40-years-old girlfriend of seven years, Woranan Ratrawiphukkun, defended him from Musk’s accusations in an interview with the Daily Mail. “The news about him being married to a 12-year-old child is laughable. As of now, everything will proceed according to the law,” stated Ratrawiphukkun.
Ratrawiphukkun added: “Vern is a kind person. He rarely has an argument with anyone, and everybody loves Vern… We’ve spent our life together for seven years — he’s a good man and such a gentleman. He thinks of others before himself. I cannot comment further. I don’t have anything to say to him [Musk].” She continued, “I know what kind of person Vern is. If he wasn’t a good man, we wouldn’t still be together after all these seven years.”
Musk’s lawyers state that readers of his Twitter feed “did not interpret Musk’s statement as factual assertions,” as a result the other outlandish claims and promises that Musk regularly makes via Twitter can be brought into question., He recently he promised that “Supercharger coverage will extend to 100% of Europe next year,” Breitbart News will be keeping a close eye to see if this actually happens.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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