Elon Musk asks why the diver he called a ‘pedo’ hasn’t sued him yet

Elon Musk.Kiichiro Sato / Associated Press

• Elon Musk on Tuesday suggested via Twitter that it was unusual Vernon Unsworth, the British diver he called a “pedo” in July, 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.
• It’s unclear if Musk was alluding to a settlement or financial compensation he gave to Unsworth to preempt a lawsuit.
• Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elon Musk on Tuesday suggested via Twitter that it was unusual Vernon Unsworth, the British diver he called a “pedo” in July, 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. It’s unclear if Musk was alluding to a settlement or financial compensation he gave to Unsworth to preempt a lawsuit. Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk then asked Olanoff why he hadn’t investigated the matter.

“Did you investigate at all? I’m guessing answer is no. Why?” Musk said.

When Olanoff’s didn’t answer his questions, Musk asked again.

“Answer the question @yoda. You brought it up, not me. Did you investigate or not? If so, what did you actually do?” he said.

He ended the exchange by suggesting that Olanoff was not a “truth-seeker” because he didn’t investigate why Unsworth hadn’t sued Musk.

“So you actually did nothing & yet imply you are a truth-seeker,” Musk said.

In July, Musk called Unsworth a pedophile in a tweet and said he would bet money to back his accusation after Unsworth, who was involved in the Thailand cave rescue, said the miniature submarine Musk designed and sent to Thailand to help with the rescue 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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