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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is facing the action over posts to Twitter. Ringo H.W. Chiu/PA Images

Elon Musk to face defamation trial today over tweets about diver who helped in Thai cave rescue

Musk claims the phrase “pedo guy” was a common insult where he grew up that is “synonymous with ‘creepy old man’”.

ELON MUSK IS going on trial on today for his troublesome tweets in a defamation case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly branded a paedophile.

The Tesla CEO will be called to testify early in the case in Los Angeles federal court to explain what he meant when he called Vernon Unsworth – who helped rescue youth soccer players trapped underwater in a Thailand cave – “pedo guy” in a Twitter spat more than year ago.

Musk later apologised for lashing out at Unsworth on Twitter after the diver belittled Musk’s efforts to build a tiny submarine to save the trapped boys as a “PR stunt”.

The tweet, widely interpreted as a reference to a paedophile, was removed by Musk, who disputed that’s what he meant.

“‘Pedo guy’ was a common insult used in South Africa when I was growing up,” Musk said in a court declaration. “It is synonymous with ‘creepy old man’ and is used to insult a person’s appearance and demeanour.”

Unsworth’s lawyers have laughed off that explanation and said his claim was undercut by a subsequent tweet when he said, “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true”, in response to a question about whether he had accused Unsworth of being a paedophile.

The lawyers also said he hired private investigators to dig up evidence Unsworth was a child molester, which they never found, according to Unsworth’s lawyers.

Hot water

The lawsuit is not the first time Musk’s tweets have landed him in hot water.

Musk and Tesla reached a $40 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission last year on allegations he misled investors with a tweet declaring he had secured financing to buy out the electric car maker. He agreed in the settlement to have future tweets about the company screened.

He was forced back into court on accusations he violated that agreement by tweeting a misleading figure about how many cars Tesla would manufacture this year.

The SEC sought to hold him in contempt of court, which led to a new agreement imposing tighter controls on Musk’s tweets about the company.

The cave drama played out for more than two weeks in the summer of 2018 when the 12 boys — ages 11-16 — and their soccer coach were trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand.

Musk and engineers from his SpaceX rocket company custom built a mini-submarine to help with the rescue. The device was heavily publicised but never used.

Unsworth, a diver and caving expert whose advice was considered crucial in the rescue operation, said the sub would never have fit in the cave’s tight spaces. He told CNN that Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts”.

Musk responded two days later with his series of tweets.

Musk claims he wasn’t making a factual statement and no one reading his tweet would take it seriously and interpret it as defamatory.

Despite removing the tweets, he later suggested in emails to the news website BuzzFeed that Unsworth was a “child rapist” and had moved to northern Thailand to take “a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time”. He provided no evidence.

Unsworth is seeking unspecified damages for pain, suffering and emotional distress.

The defence has resisted efforts to turn over financial records to show Musk’s wealth but has stipulated his net worth exceeds $20 billion (€18 billion).

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    Mute ThomasFrancisMeagher
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    Dec 16th 2013, 7:28 AM

    The Chinese need to have a word with young Kim before he does something stupid & starts a war that nobody wants.

    129
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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Dec 16th 2013, 10:16 AM

    On November 3rd, the marxist state carried out 80 public executions in seven cities for crimes ranging from the distribution of pornography and foreign merchandise to possession of a Christian bible. It has been reported that children witnessed executions in at least one case.

    According to Amnesty International North Korea executed 30 people in 2011 and 6 last year. At least 100 have been executed this year. This would appear to show that North Korea’s authorities has recently acquired a blood-lust.

    The reasons for the marked increase in rates of executions are not clear, but according to JoongAng Ilbo (the South Korean newspaper that originally reported the story) the show-piece executions were “an extreme measure by the central government to stamp out public unrest or capitalistic zeal accompanying its development projects.”

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    Mute Mick Jordan.
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:44 PM

    Might not do any good with this lunatic Thomas. Uncle Jang was Beijing’s man in the Government. I think he actually believes his own propaganda that NK doesn’t need anyone.

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    Mute Eamonn O'Riain
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    Dec 16th 2013, 7:47 AM

    An interesting approach to weeding out corruption in government.
    Why don’t we give it a whirl??

    63
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    Mute Ed Appleby
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    Dec 16th 2013, 11:14 AM

    The army wouldn’t have enough bullets to shoot the amount of corrupt greedy parish pump dictators and half arsed teachers who infest the political system in Ireland. Anyway you get what you vote for.

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    Mute James O'Sullivan
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    Dec 16th 2013, 8:13 AM

    Old Moores Almanac says that a certain short fat arrogant little dictator will be gone by mid 2014.
    No idea where he’s going though…..although Florida was mentioned.

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    Mute MGrey
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    Dec 16th 2013, 9:59 AM

    I thought Rabbitte was on his way to Europe?

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    Mute declan hegarty
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    Dec 16th 2013, 7:30 AM

    I think Kim got the right idea…….. He knows how to keep his cabinet on their toes…………or on their backs

    If Enda was more like him our no2 would be shaking in his boots

    29
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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Dec 16th 2013, 12:38 PM

    Ah don’t worry Enda’s got his report cards….

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    Mute William Grogan
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    Dec 16th 2013, 9:22 AM

    “Pyongyang labelled him a drug-addicted womaniser who frequented foreign casinos with embezzled state funds.”

    Sounds like a family trait, Kim Jong-Un’s brother was a fan of the casinos too.

    It’s very hard to see this dictatorship ending peacefully.

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    Mute Shit you not
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    Dec 16th 2013, 8:39 AM

    Nuke em!

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    Mute MrKnow
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    Dec 16th 2013, 9:08 AM

    Is that you john mc cain??

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    Mute Dom AcePlazo
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    Dec 16th 2013, 7:44 AM

    Just let them get on with it and keep sending the food parcels.

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    Mute ptriley
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    Dec 16th 2013, 11:24 AM

    Let them eat cake or rice cake even !

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    Mute Donal O Neil
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    Dec 16th 2013, 2:18 PM

    Oh yes the report card no one has seen or heard of since … Bad minister , I’m going to give you 100 lashes and you can write out the constitution 100 times .

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