Outspoken Tesla, SpaceX, Elon Musk, has emerged victorious in a law suit that resulted from a past controversial tweet.
In July 2018, Mr. Musk called British cave diver Vernon Unsworth, a “pedo guy.”
Musk tweeted the insult after Unsworth said Elon Musk’s rescue submarine would not be of much use to rescue the boys’ soccer team and their coach, who were stranded in a flooded cave in Thailand.
Speaking to CNN at the time, Unsworth said Musk was perpetuating a PR scheme, and suggested that he “stick his submarine where it hurts”.
Unsworth sued Musk for defamation in September 2018. He has lamented that the tweet damaged him by associating his name with pedophilia.
During the trial, Mr. Unsworth testified that he took the insult literally and that it had resulted in deep humiliation and shame.
According to a CNN report, he said, “I’m not sure of how many times it was repeated, but it was essentially my name was being tied to being a pedophile.”
Unsworth’s lawyer argued that Musk is a “billionaire bully.” He added that Musk should pay Unsworth US$ 190 million in damages.
A Reuters report quoted the attorney as saying, “He dropped a nuclear bomb on Vernon Unsworth.”
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Musk’s team rebutted this, insisting that “pedo guy” was meant as an insult, not a statement of fact,
Musk apologised for the insulting tweet on Day One of the trial and claimed he was uncertain of his net worth. He estimated it at around US$ 20 billion.
The trial ended on Friday with a seemingly easy win for Elon Musk. A jury of 8 took about an hour to determine that the billionaire is not liable for damages.
Post trial, Elon Musk reportedly said, “my faith in humanity is restored.”
