Elon Musk ruined highlight of British diver's life by branding him 'pedo guy,' court hears

Diver Vernon Unsworth is taking legal action against Elon Musk over the billionaire's 'pedo guy' tweet
Getty Images

Elon Musk ruined what should have been a highlight of a British diver’s life by falsely accusing him of being a paedophile, a court has been told.

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX boss apologised for branding diver Vernon Unsworth “pedo guy” in a tweet, saying the term was a common insult where he grew up.

But Mr Unsworth’s lawyer Taylor Wilson said the social media post was more than a slip-up and that Mr Musk wrecked "what should have been one of the proudest moments of his [Mr Unsworth’s] life."

Mr Wilson’s remarks came in his opening statement as a defamation trial against Tesla chief executive got under way in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Vernon Unsworth was made an MBE by the Duke of Cambridge for his services to cave diving
PA

Mr Musk was expected to testify later in the day in the trial over whether he harmed Mr Unsworth's reputation by calling him "pedo guy" on Twitter.

Mr Unsworth sued Mr Musk in September 2018, two months after playing a leading role in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand.

Mr Musk's Twitter habits have long been under a microscope, and a jury of three men and five women will consider whether Mr Unsworth is entitled to unspecified damages from Mr Musk over "pedo guy" and other tweets.

The trial before US District Judge Stephen Wilson in Los Angeles is expected to last about five days.

Mr Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro countered that Mr Unsworth did not act after the tweet like a man who suffered because of it.

"The plaintiff is saying he has been horribly damaged, and deserves money," Spiro said. "He doesn't."

Elon Musk is accused of defaming the cave diver with his 'pedo guy' tweet
REUTERS

With 29.8 million followers, Mr Musk has made his Twitter account a major source of publicity for his Palo Alto, California-based electric car company, which does not advertise.

While the case does not involve Tesla, it is among the last issues hanging over Mr Musk from a turbulent 2018 and early 2019, when he regularly clashed with Wall Street and short sellers as Tesla struggled with production problems.

The episode began after Mr Musk offered a mini-submarine from his SpaceX rocket company to help with the cave rescue.

Mr Unsworth went on CNN on July 13, 2018, three days after the rescue was completed, belittling the offer as a "PR stunt" and saying Mr Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts."

Two days later, Mr Musk lashed out at Mr Unsworth in a series of tweets, including by calling him a "pedo guy." Mr Unsworth has denied Mr Musk's accusation.

To win the case, Mr Unsworth needs to show that Mr Musk was negligent. This requires proof that the tweets were false, that Mr Musk did not use reasonable care to determine if they were true, and that people reasonably understood them to mean he was a paedophile.

Mr Unsworth's case got a boost when judge Wilson last month said the diver's sudden fame from the rescue did not make him a "public figure," meaning he did not need to show that Mr Musk acted with "actual malice" when posting his tweets.

Lawyers for Mr Musk have said the tweets were opinion, not statements of fact, and that Mr Unsworth knew of no one who thought he was a paedophile based on them.

They have also said Mr Unsworth sought to profit from his role in the rescue and provoked Mr Musk's response by suggesting on CNN that Musk did not care about the lives of the trapped boys.

Agencies contributed to this report

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