London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025

Elon Musk Beat The "Pedo Guy" Defamation Suit In A Dramatic Victory

Elon Musk Beat The "Pedo Guy" Defamation Suit In A Dramatic Victory

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk successfully defended himself in a lawsuit brought by a British cave explorer after a California-based jury found that the billionaire had not defamed the plaintiff by calling him a “pedo guy” on Twitter. “The people that read Musk's tweet wouldn’t have known who he was talking about".

On his way out of the court, the billionaire entrepreneur, who testified earlier this week, said, “My faith in humanity is restored." Vernon Unsworth, the 64-year-old plaintiff, who sat mostly stone-faced through the four-day trial, remained silent as the verdict was read. His legal team had suggested a judgment of $190 million in various damages but in the end could not get the jury to vote in its favor.

The lawsuit stemmed from a series of four tweets that Musk sent in July 2018 that insulted Unsworth, a Brit who had been heavily involved in the rescue of a boys soccer team and their coach from a cave system in Thailand earlier that month. In those tweets, Musk called the man “sus” and a “pedo guy.” This was after Unsworth gave an interview in which he criticized the Tesla CEO's efforts to get involved in the cave rescue by building a submarine tube -which was ultimately never used and never proven to work -to extract the boys.

The decision came down to the notion that a reasonable person could not read Musk's "pedo guy" tweet and determine that it was associated with Unsworth. “The judge laid out five points for defamation as soon as we got to point two, which was about being acquainted [with the defamed person], we decided,” said Carl Shusterman, a Los Angeles attorney who served on the jury. “The people that read Musk's tweet wouldn’t have known who he was talking about.”

During the trial, Unsworth and his lawyers, led by attorney Lin Wood, argued that any reasonable person who saw Musk’s words in the news or on Twitter, where the billionaire had around 22 million followers at the time, would have interpreted the words as direct allegations of pedophilia. Musk and his lawyers, led by attorney Alex Spiro, portrayed the tweets as a tit-for-tat response in “an argument between two men” and defended them as insults, not accusations.

Importantly, Spiro and his team also pointed out that the four tweets in question from Musk never mentioned Unsworth by name. During the trial, Musk made it clear, however, that the tweets were about British caver.


While Musk deleted his July 2018 tweets about Unsworth, who had previously given a CNN interview accusing the Tesla CEO of using the rescue as a publicity stunt, he later doubled down in follow-up tweets and in emails to a BuzzFeed News reporter. In a tweet from August 2018, he had asked why Unsworth hadn’t sued him yet if the accusation weren’t true. He then sent an email to a BuzzFeed News reporter suggesting that Unsworth was a “child rapist” who had taken a 12-year-old “child bride.”

Unsworth’s legal team did not use Musk’s emailed claims to the reporter to establish defamation, but did enter them as evidence to show the billionaire’s state of mind when he wrote his tweets in July 2018. Judge Stephen V. Wilson instructed the jury not to use the emails to the BuzzFeed News reporter to establish defamation, despite their incendiary claims, but did allow them to be used to characterize Musk.

Unsworth's lawyers also showed how the head of Musk’s family office, working on the billionaire’s orders, had hired a private investigator in August 2018 to dig up dirt on Unsworth and attempt to confirm that he was a pedophile.

In the end, the jury of three men and five women in the Los Angeles federal court sided with Musk after a trial that saw the Tesla CEO testify on Tuesday and Wednesday, but remained absent from other trial proceedings until Friday. Legal experts were surprised the case went to trial at all given the propensity of most parties to settle and the difficulty of achieving a favorable plaintiff’s verdict for defamation.

Speaking after the trial, a sullen Unsworth, who was wearing a cave rescue lapel pin, said he respected the jury verdict and would "take it on the chin." Mark Stephens, his UK-based lawyer, framed the decision to move forward with the trial as a case where "billionaire bully" Musk gave them no choice: "sue or true."

Spiro declined comment after trial. Another juror on her way out of the court's elevator following the decision declined to be interviewed, saying only that the case "was very clear."

Wood, while introspective, remained fiery in an interview with BuzzFeed News following the decision. Having called Musk a "liar," a "bully," and a man who looked to capitalize on the rescue dilemma, the Atlanta-based lawyer said he had no regrets about his words.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
×