Another Musk moment: Tesla CEO's 'pedo guy' case is going to trial

[Bubbajim]

A hot potato: Following the daring rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave, Elon Musk called one of the cave divers ‘pedo guy’ after his own plan to help was branded a ‘PR stunt’. The diver in question, Vernon Unsworth, is suing Musk over the slur, and the case will now proceed to court after Musk’s attempt to dismiss the case failed this week.

You may remember last July the world’s attention was captured by news that a junior soccer team had become stuck in a Thai cave, as rain and flood waters blocked their escape. It was a heart-warming story of an international rescue team diligently tracking down the boys and staging a daring rescue, successfully freeing all the boys and their coach.

But the good news story was somewhat tainted after it became overshadowed by some tweets from Elon Musk calling one of the divers ‘pedo guy’.

Musk had weighed-in on the plight of the boys and he offered the use of a mini-submarine to help with the rescue efforts. But his offer was labelled a ‘PR stunt’ by British diver Vernon Unsworth, leading to the aforementioned slur. Musk then compounded the problem by adding “bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.”

Unsworth commented at the time that he was considering legal action for defamation, and following a court order submitted on Friday, US District Judge Stephen Wilson has refused Musk’s attempt to have the case dismissed.

Musk’s defence had asserted that ‘internet speech is unique’, effectively arguing that you can’t hold communications online to the same standard as spoken or printed words. This defence, which basically boils down to ‘he was only joking’, may have stood a better chance had Musk not followed up with his tweet saying “bet ya a signed dollar it’s true,” and emailing a Buzzfeed reporter telling them to “stop defending child rapists.”

Taken together, they allowed Judge Wilson to conclude "There is nothing about the context in which [Musk] made the statements...that would create doubt as to whether [Musk's] statements implied assertions of objective fact."

Wilson has set the court date for October 22.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/80042-elon-musk-pedo-guy-case-going-trial.html

 

[pcnthuziast]

Pot. Kettle. Pedo.

 

[koblongata]

Who tried to help first? Elon.
Who insulted first? Vernon.

Why would you want to shove a mini submarine into one of the openings of a man?

 

[Uncle Al]

So typical of Musk to make such statements with too little information. It's not new for him at all, in fact the only thing new is the fact that this time he's going to be held accountable, not unlike him shooting off his mouth that got him a hefty SEC fine last year as well as put aside from his leadership post. If he would just keep his mouth shut his achievements could do the talking not unlike another well known, political figure we all know ... and mostly loath ........

 

[netman]

He has no choice, but to pay the man...

 

[netman]

So typical of Musk to make such statements with too little information. It's not new for him at all, in fact the only thing new is the fact that this time he's going to be held accountable, not unlike him shooting off his mouth that got him a hefty SEC fine last year as well as put aside from his leadership post. If he would just keep his mouth shut his achievements could do the talking not unlike another well known, political figure we all know ... and mostly loath ........

He and Trump went to the same school!

 

[wiyosaya]

IMO, Musk has no chance - he simply has no proof of his allegations. I hope he gets taken to the cleaners. Besides paying his legal bill, I hope Unsworth decides to donate some of what he will get from Musk to charity.

Musk needs a good trip to the woodshed - but he would probably love that.

 

[Anon666123]

IMO, Musk has no chance - he simply has no proof of his allegations. I hope he gets taken to the cleaners. Besides paying his legal bill, I hope Unsworth decides to donate some of what he will get from Musk to charity.

Musk needs a good trip to the woodshed - but he would probably love that.

What do you have against musk? He’s one of the few people taking real steps toward moving our species forward into our next stage- space exploration.

 

[wiyosaya]

IMO, Musk has no chance - he simply has no proof of his allegations. I hope he gets taken to the cleaners. Besides paying his legal bill, I hope Unsworth decides to donate some of what he will get from Musk to charity.

Musk needs a good trip to the woodshed - but he would probably love that.

What do you have against musk? He’s one of the few people taking real steps toward moving our species forward into our next stage- space exploration.

You drank the cool-aid. There is nothing I can do.

 

[Anon666123]

Get off your high horse for a second and explain? Or would you rather trade insults?

 

[Lounds]

Musk needs to just apologise, he'd be more respected if he did.

 

[amghwk]

Is this an older picture of him?

He looked quite fat a few months back.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

IMO, Musk has no chance - he simply has no proof of his allegations. I hope he gets taken to the cleaners. Besides paying his legal bill, I hope Unsworth decides to donate some of what he will get from Musk to charity.

Musk needs a good trip to the woodshed - but he would probably love that.

What do you have against musk? He’s one of the few people taking real steps toward moving our species forward into our next stage- space exploration.

That does not excuse Musk's awful behavior. He has 0 evidence that Unsworth was a pedo, and seemed to simply be reacting to the fact that someone doing the hard work of actually saving kids was telling him to screw off with his yellow submarine, much the same way first responders will shoo away citizens interfering with relief efforts.

When you make damaging accusations against someone on a public forum, be ready for the consequences. Musk "moving the species forward" doesnt grant him immunity from being a complete social M0r0n. His repeated baffling efforts to insult anyone around him and make himself look like a buffoon are no longer funny, he needs to grow a proper temperament or stop being a public figure while leading these big companies.

 

[captaincranky]

What do you have against musk? He’s one of the few people taking real steps toward moving our species forward into our next stage- space exploration.

For now, isn't it really just a pissing contest between him and Bezos?

He launched his own Tesla into space, now that's what would call, "moving our species into space", if he were actually at the wheel.

The US put men on the moon July 16, 1969, 50 years ago. Considering all the R & D windfall they've received, neither of these two press who@ing jacka**es, have the ballz to get as far as low earth orbit.

And one of Musk's "Dragon" capsules blew up a few days ago.

 

[xxLCxx]

... The US put men on the moon July 16, 1969, 50 years ago. ...

Disclaimer: "Moon" - US slang for their West Coast

 

[captaincranky]

Disclaimer: "Moon" - US slang for their West Coast

I know right, we faked the whole thing? The Holocaust never happened either. Vaccines make you die. Tesla never had a losing quarter. And well, Trump is the best president we've ever had...Musk is the second coming of Christ, and he's going to lead us to the stars. (Well, as soon as he can bully somebody into building a faster than light drive, for which he'll take all the credit).

Now be a good boy and go say your prayers,. That way you're sure to go to heaven

And before I forget, the pope is infallible.

So there you go, there are really only two types of truths in the world. Things which did actually happen, which a few clowns get together and decide is a conspiracy theory, and things which are blatant lies, but people think they're true, because they're so much more appealing than reality.

 

[kombu]

So typical of Musk to make such statements with too little information. It's not new for him at all, in fact the only thing new is the fact that this time he's going to be held accountable, not unlike him shooting off his mouth that got him a hefty SEC fine last year as well as put aside from his leadership post. If he would just keep his mouth shut his achievements could do the talking not unlike another well known, political figure we all know ... and mostly loath ........

He and Trump went to the same school!

Imagine being a grown man and posting comments like these on a tech site. Sad.

 

[captaincranky]

Imagine being a grown man and posting comments like these on a tech site. Sad.

I'm not sure where you're going with this. Trump is indeed and irredeemably, a boldface, pathological liar. Whereas Musk only rises to the level of "pathological exaggeration" and shameless pandering for investors money. You might sort of categorize him as the, "squeegee man of STEM finance ploys".

In his own little way though, he can be every bit as annoying as Trump when he puts his mind to it.

It does give one pause to wonder how Musk would comport himself were he POTUS.

This story was national news. Musk made both a nuisance and an a** out of himself with his toy submarine. He was told straight up, the route to the trapped boys would cover both land and underwater aspects. He then, in a pouting rage, proceeded to vent on the head rescue operations officer, his thoughtlessly concocted "you're a chomo" fantasy.

Hell, you go that all ad hominem on a fellow member here at Techspot, you'll have anything from your post pulled, to a warning, to an outright ban. Now picture the repercussions from someone as high profile as Musk, doing such, in front of most the major news networks in the world, live

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chomo

 

[kombu]

Mentioning Trump, whether the comment is factual or not is highly controversial and was really, really unnecessary. The subject of Musk is contentious enough. I guess news about Musk fits the technews genre, but referencing Trump every time you strongly agree or disagree with something should be considered inappropriate. Unlike that sarcastic holocaust comment you made earlier - that we can debate at length, if you like.

 

[captaincranky]

Mentioning Trump, whether the comment is factual or not is highly controversial and was really, really unnecessary. The subject of Musk is contentious enough. I guess news about Musk fits the technews genre, but referencing Trump every time you strongly agree or disagree with something should be considered inappropriate. Unlike that sarcastic holocaust comment you made earlier - that we can debate at length, if you like.

Musk, along with Trump,, is getting worse as days go by. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely". In the case of these two men, parallels do exist. as both of their egos are becoming more outlandish and invasive as time goes by..

As far as my "Holocaust" comment goes, unless you actually think or believe I'm a holocaust denier, or you're one yourself, I frankly don't see the need for further discussion. I didn't think there was any way in which my syntax could be taken to mean I don't believe the holocaust happened., I was merely drawing a parallel to those who have seem "Capricorn One" one too many times, while under the influence of very potent psychoactive drugs.

Ergo for those individuals. the moon landing could have never happened, but their "landing" the morning after the show, was a very real and disturbing event.

OTOH, the other day I did mention that for those who enjoy time travel and time paradox musings, something to reflect on, which was the fact that were it not for Hitler's defeat, we might not have Mark Zuckerberg to contend with.. That unquestionably is a rather controversial statement, although it doesn't mean I was rooting for Hitler either.

 

[DaveBG]

You drank the cool-aid. There is nothing I can do.

You ride the haters bandwagon. There is nothing I can do.

And by the way I saw the guy - the diver. Well he indeed looks like pedo.. sorry.

 

[xxLCxx]

You drank the cool-aid. There is nothing I can do.

You ride the haters bandwagon. There is nothing I can do.

And by the way I saw the guy - the diver. Well he indeed looks like pedo.. sorry.

Oh, we're going by the looks now? It's just keeps getting better...

 

[captaincranky]

You ride the haters bandwagon. There is nothing I can do.

And there's nothing we want you to do, expect you to do, or would like you to do about it either. Musk is an annoying, mouthy, carpetbagger. Facts is facts, and idolatry and hero worship tend to cloud judgment, and perspective.

And by the way I saw the guy - the diver. Well he indeed looks like pedo.. sorry.

Oh, was he wearing a wet suit that you'd seen before while you were watching RuPaul's "Drag Race"?

BTW, Musk's remark about how he'd "bet you a signed dollar", is a dead giveaway as to exactly how self involved, arrogant and conceited the man really is.

If I won that type of bet with him, I'd use the money for toilet paper.

While meanwhile he'd be thinking, "I just made that man's whole lifetime, giving him MY autograph".

 

[wiyosaya]

You drank the cool-aid. There is nothing I can do.

You ride the haters bandwagon. There is nothing I can do.

And by the way I saw the guy - the diver. Well he indeed looks like pedo.. sorry.

Oh, we're going by the looks now? It's just keeps getting better...

Like I said, they drank the cool-aid, there is nothing I can do.

No amount of explaining just how unethical Musk is will change their minds especially when they emulate his unethical behavior.

All bow to humanity's savior - Elon Musk.

 

[wiyosaya]

Musk "moving the species forward" doesnt grant him immunity from being a complete social M0r0n. His repeated baffling efforts to insult anyone around him and make himself look like a buffoon are no longer funny, he needs to grow a proper temperament or stop being a public figure while leading these big companies.

IMO, it is highly questionable whether Musk is doing anything other than attempting to figure out how to move his bank account forward while immortalizing himself.