Elon Musk claims US constitutional right to call Thai-cave hero Vernon Unsworth a ‘pedo’ and ‘child rapist’, even though he’s not
- Elon Musk’s lawyers say his comments about Vernon Unsworth were meant to be viewed as opinion, not fact
- Unsworth, who took part in the rescue of schoolboys from a Thai cave in July, is suing the tech entrepreneur for defamation
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has moved to have a defamation lawsuit against him dismissed, arguing that his insults aimed at a Thai-cave rescue volunteer whom he called a “pedo” and a “child rapist” were merely opinions and are protected by the US First Amendment.
“This motion boils down to a single question,” his lawyers wrote in a motion to dismiss filed Wednesday. “Would a reasonable reader believe that Musk’s statements were supported by objective facts or were instead ‘non actionable opinion’?”
In September, Briton Vernon Unsworth, an experienced cave explorer who was part of an international effort to rescue a young boys’ soccer team trapped in a sunken cave in northern Thailand, sued Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, for defamation.
Unsworth seeks compensation for the “worldwide damage” he suffered after Musk attacked him on Twitter, broadcasting baseless claims about Unsworth to Musk’s more than 22 million followers on the social network.
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But Musk’s legal team argued that his insults toward Unsworth are protected by the US Constitution. “The public knew from the outset that Musk’s insults were not intended to be statements of fact,” the motion said.