London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

No apology to Elon Musk from British diver at 'pedo guy' defamation trial

No apology to Elon Musk from British diver at 'pedo guy' defamation trial

The British cave explorer suing Elon Musk for calling him a “pedo guy” on Twitter testified on Thursday his criticism of the Tesla Inc chief executive that led to the tweet was not a personal attack.
In the defamation trial’s third day, Vernon Unsworth also refused to apologize for a July 13, 2018, CNN interview in which he said that Musk’s offer of a mini-submarine to help rescue a boys’ soccer team from a flooded Thailand cave was a “PR stunt” and Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts.”

“My insult was to the tube and not to Mr. Musk personally,” Unsworth said while being cross-examined by Bill Price, one of Musk’s lawyers. “I’m not sure how I need to apologize. It was my opinion at the time and I stand by that opinion.”

Unsworth’s lawsuit focuses on three Musk tweets on July 15, 2018, five days after the diver helped complete the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from the cave.

Musk’s first tweet questioned Unsworth’s role in the rescue, while the second said, “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.” The third tweet, in response to a follower who asked Musk about the second tweet, said “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.”

Unsworth, 64, said the tweets harmed his reputation by branding him a pedophile and a liar, and said on Wednesday they left him “humiliated, ashamed, dirtied.”

His lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Musk, who told the court this week his net worth is around $20 billion.

Legal experts are closely watching the case because it is believed to be the first major defamation lawsuit brought by a private individual to go to trial over a tweet.

Musk, 48, who was questioned throughout the afternoon on Tuesday by Unsworth’s lawyer, has maintained his composure. He apologized to Unsworth, and suggested to jurors the stress of working 80 to 100 hours a week during a challenging period for Tesla contributed to the outburst.

Jurors could have the case by Friday after testimony from other witnesses and closing arguments.

The Unsworth trial has revived discussion of Musk’s erratic behavior during 2018, when he also used Twitter to float a leveraged buyout proposal for Tesla that was scuttled and ultimately led to Musk paying $20 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint.

For most of this year, however, Musk, who has nearly 30 million Twitter followers, has largely kept his public comments focused on Tesla’s new models and improved profitability and on the technical progress of SpaceX.

Musk’s lawyers on Thursday tried to weaken the defamation argument, suggesting Unsworth’s reputation was unsullied and that he even tried to profit from his role in the rescue, which won him plaudits from the Thai and British governments.

Asked if there was talk of his being a pedophile at a 10 Downing Street event where he stood next to Theresa May, then Britain’s prime minister, Unsworth said: “Not that I recall.”

In his own testimony, Musk dismissed his tweets as an “off the cuff” response to watching a replay of Unsworth’s CNN interview, at a time he felt overworked from running Tesla, which makes electric cars, and SpaceX, a rocket company that offered the mini-submarine.

To win his lawsuit, Unsworth needs to show Musk was negligent in publishing a falsehood that clearly identified him and caused him harm. He does not need to show that Musk acted with “actual malice,” which is much tougher to prove.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
×