Elon Musk took to Twitter to deny accusations of sexual harassment.
In a tweet on May 20, Musk said that the “wild accusations are utterly untrue”.
He also called the person who made the accusations a ‘liar” and claimed that the alleged incident “never happened”.
But I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me “exposed” – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
The allegations were first published in an article by Business Insider.
The article stated that SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Musk, had paid an ex-flight attendant USD250,000 (S$344,897) to settle the sexual misconduct claims outside of court.
Purportedly groped the woman and exposed himself
The alleged sexual misconduct occurred in 2016, according to Business Insider.
At the time, the woman was a member of the cabin crew for SpaceX’s corporate jet fleet.
She alleged that Musk had exposed his erect penis to her.
Musk had also purportedly rubbed her leg without consent and offered to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage.
Business Insider got their source from the alleged victim’s friend
Business Insider reported that it had received information regarding these sexual allegations from an anonymous friend of the alleged victim, who had provided a signed declaration.
“The details in this story are drawn from the declaration as well as other documents, including email correspondence and other records shared with Insider by the friend,” Business Insider wrote.
“We stand by our story”: Business Insider
The publication had also reached out to Musk for a comment.
Musk said that there is “a lot more to this story”. He also called the story a “politically motivated hit piece”.
Musk later expressed similar sentiments on his Twitter page.
They began brewing attacks of all kinds as soon as the Twitter acquisition was announced.
In my 30 year career, including the entire MeToo era, there’s nothing to report, but, as soon as I say I intend to restore free speech to Twitter & vote Republican, suddenly there is …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
Musk also claimed that the article was “written before [Business Insider] talked to [him]”.
No, it was clear that their only goal was a hit price to interfere with the Twitter acquisition. The story was written before they even talked to me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
In response to Musk’s denial and claims, Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider’s editor-in-chief, responded:
“We stand by our story, which is based on documents and interviews and speaks for itself.”
Reporters are asking us to respond to Musk’s denial.
Our response is: “We stand by our story, which is based on documents and interviews and speaks for itself.” https://t.co/cgGjAUhSyd
— Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson) May 20, 2022
Top image via YouTube video.