Elon Musk to testify in own defence against defamation lawsuit

Elon Musk will testify in his own defence against a defamation lawsuit filed by a British cave explorer, said the Tesla CEO's lawyer on November 25 at the Los Angeles District Court. Musk is accused of calling Vernon Unsworth a "pedo guy" in a tweet. Unsworth in his lawsuit mentioned that Musk made the reference after he accused the Tesla premiere of grandstanding by offering help to his diving team who rescued 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thailand cave in July 2018. On the other hand, Alexander Spiro, Musk’s attorney, told the court that Elon Musk did not call him a 'pedophile' and he will testify against the accusations himself. He added that Musk apologised for the misunderstanding, deleted the tweet and moved on instead. Neither Musk nor Unsworth seemed to settle the case out of the court since the case began on December 3 last year.

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The court dismissed Musk's claim that Unsworth is a public figure

L Lin Wood, attorney of Unsworth said that even Vernon will testify in the case. The lawyer added at the court that he will provide evidence of the damage caused to him by the label of being a pedophile. The pretrial hearings will be held on November 26 for the second day to scrutinize the evidence in the trial as directed by US District Judge Stephen Wilson. The judge rejected Musk’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed last week and also ruled that Unsworth was not a public figure making it easier to prove defamation. This increased the chances of Unsworth winning the case if he shows that Musk acted negligently when making his comments.

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In his defence Musk had reportedly argued that Unsworth rose to fame and became a public figure with the Thailand rescue and so he needed to prove "actual malice". Yet the Tesla CEO admitted of making the comment in the tweet saying that he didn't mean to hurt Unsworth by calling him that. He added that the reference was common in South Africa where he was born and that his reference does not prove or infer that Unsworth suffers from pedophilia. Speaking on the allegations, Unsworth said the media that he had shared a house in the Thailand countryside with a 40-year-old woman who owned a nail salon and that proves that he is no public figure.

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Musk's offer a 'PR stunt'

The cause of the dispute can be traced back to the instance when Unsworth denied the use of mini-submarine offered by Musk’s SpaceX rocket company to rescue the trapped kids in Thailand cave. At that time Unsworth said that Musk's offer was nothing but a 'PR stunt' and that Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts”. Musk's tweet happens to follow the statement made by Unsworth. The cave expert now seeks compensation over the derogatory comment made by Musk. The Tesla CEO recently settled a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over his Twitter use.

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(With inputs from agencies)