Elon Musk is now caught in legal crosshairs as a British diver who was previously referred to as a “Pedo guy” in Musk’s tweets is pressing defamation charges against the billionaire. After an unsuccessful attempt at trying to get the case dismissed, Musk’s lawyers are now stating that his tweets are not to be taken seriously and are using that as their defense.
Back in July 2018, a British diver Vernon Unsworth helped rescue a youth soccer team, and its coach trapped in a cave in Thailand. During the time of rescue, Musk proposed the divers to use his “mini-sub” that was supposedly constructed with rocket parts and had the capacity to carry two divers.
Unsworth, owing to his extensive diving experience around the caves of Thailand, said that Musk’s submarine had “no chance of working.” He further slammed Musk’s efforts saying that they were merely a PR stunt.
As a response to Unsworth’s remarks of his efforts, disgruntled Musk tweeted called the diver a “pedo guy.” Musk apologized later for his remarks and promptly deleted his tweet. Moreover, Musk stated that “pedo guy” was a commonly used insult in South Africa and that it is synonymous with a ‘creepy old man’ but not a pedophile.
After failing to get the case dismissed, Musk’s lawyers have started claiming that Musk’s Twitter account was full of jokes and pranks, due to which his tweets must not be taken seriously. His lawyers further said that Musk’s insults were “over-the-top” and made on the “rough-and-tumble” platform of Twitter.
Unsworth’s lawyers have however referred to Musk’s infamous “funding secured” tweet due to which the billionaire was fined a whopping $40 million fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2018, Musk tweeted saying that he had secured the necessary funding to take Tesla private; but in reality, nothing of such sort was in place, resulting in a chaotic market-movement and a subsequent fine by the SEC.
Musk’s lawyers have argued back saying that, “Picking one tweet from Mr. Musk’s over 9,000 and arguing that it demonstrates his use of Twitter to disseminate facts is highly misleading.”
Here are a few tweets by Musk that were quoted by his lawyers to showcase his humorous nature on Twitter:
“An impending zombie apocalypse and a money-back guarantee on flamethrowers to fight them.”
“Rumors that he is a Martian.”
“Launching SpaceX rockets at night because they are easier to fake in the dark.”
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