British diver prepares to sue Elon Musk after ‘pedo’ comments

Elon
Musk
Lucy Nicholson /
Reuters

• L. Lin Wood, a lawyer retained by the British diver
  Vernon Unsworth, whom Elon Musk called a “pedo,”  is
  “preparing a civil complaint
  for libel”
  against Musk,
  Buzzfeed first reported.
• In a letter addressed to Musk obtained by Business
  Insider, Wood says Musk made “false and defamatory statements”
  suggesting that Unsworth is a pedophile.
• Wood also invites Musk or his legal representatives to
  contact him to avoid a lawsuit.
• A representative for Musk did not immediately respond
  to Business Insider’s request for comment.

L. Lin Wood, a lawyer retained by the British diver Vernon
Unsworth, whom Elon Musk called a “pedo,”  is “preparing a
civil complaint for libel” against Musk,
Buzzfeed first reported.

In a letter Wood sent to Musk on August 6 that was reviewed by
Business Insider, Wood writes that Musk made “false and
defamatory statements” suggesting Unsworth is a pedophile.

“You published through three different tweets to your twenty-two
million followers that Mr. Unsworth engages in the sexual
exploitation of Thai children, and you did so at a time when he
was working to save the lives of twelve Thai children,” Wood
writes. Unsworth was involved in
the Thailand
cave rescue.

In the letter, Wood invites Musk or his legal representatives to
contact him to avoid a lawsuit.

A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to Business
Insider’s request for comment.

On Tuesday, Musk suggested via Twitter that it was unusual
Unsworth
 hadn’t sued him yet and asked a
Twitter user who brought up the matter why he hadn’t investigated
it.

“You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me? He was
offered free legal services,” Musk said after
the Twitter user, Drew Olanoff, criticized Musk for the “pedo”
tweet.

Musk then asked Olanoff multiple times why he hadn’t
investigated the matter and ended the exchange by
suggesting that Olanoff was not a “truth-seeker” because he
didn’t investigate why Unsworth hadn’t sued Musk.

In July, Musk called Unsworth a pedophile in a tweet and
said he would bet money to back his accusation after
Unsworth
 said the 
miniature
submarine
 Musk designed and sent to Thailand to
help with the rescue of a boys’ soccer team and their
coach 
would
have been ineffective
 and was merely a publicity
stunt. Musk later 
apologized
 to
Unsworth and deleted the tweet.

Musk is known for being unusually candid on Twitter compared to
other CEOs, but he has become increasingly
combative on the site this year, lashing
out at critics and reporters and spurring questions about his
judgment when using the site.

He reportedly prompted an investigation from the Securities and
Exchange Commission in August when he said on Twitter that he
was considering
taking Tesla private and had secured the
funding to do so. The agency is reportedly investigating whether
Musk was attempting to hurt
the company’s short-sellers when he
published the tweet.

Reports that emerged after the tweet and
a statement
from Musk suggested that, at the time of
the tweet, he did not have legally-binding agreements in place
that would provide enough funding to
convert Tesla into
a private company. Musk said on Friday that Tesla would remain
public, but said he believed there was “more than enough funding”
to take the company private.

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