Elon Musk to face defamation lawsuit for calling Thai cave rescuer “pedo guy”

 

 

Tech billionaire Elon Musk will face a defamation case for calling a British cave diver a “pedo guy” on Twitter, it has been confirmed.

 

Musk also called Vernon Unsworth, who played an instrumental role in the rescue of a group of Thai boys trapped in the Tham Luang cave last year, a “child rapist” in an email to a journalist.

 

The war of words erupted after Unsworth mocked a mini submarine that Musk built and had sent to the cave to help with the rescue mission. 

 

Unsworth said the submarine was nothing more than a “p.r. stunt" and that Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts."

 

Musk then went on to call Unsworth “a pedo guy” on Twitter. The post was later deleted and he apologised.

 

Musk had tried to get the lawsuit thrown out of court in California with his legal team citing freedom of speech laws, adding that his comments were “over the top” and part of a “schoolyard spat on social media”.

 

However, on Friday, a judge in Los Angeles dismissed the claims and ruled that the defamation case will go ahead.

 

Lin Wood, one of Unsworth's lawyers, told DailyMail.com: “We are extremely pleased with the denial and I look forward to speaking with Musk under oath about his false, heinous accusations against Mr. Unsworth.”

 

-- © C opyright Thai Visa News 2019-04-28

4 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Musk had tried to get the lawsuit thrown out of court

And failed. Excellent.

I suspect now is around the time that he will try to settle out of court, as he is going to get hammered if he tries to fight it.

3 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

And failed. Excellent.

I suspect now is around the time that he will try to settle out of court, as he is going to get hammered if he tries to fight it.

Tesla and spacex shareholders will make enough pressure on him todo that prolly, yes. 

 

Good job mr unsworth, stick it to the rich boy club. 

4 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

And failed. Excellent.

I suspect now is around the time that he will try to settle out of court, as he is going to get hammered if he tries to fight it.

Guess no worries for him because by the time it drags through the US legal/appeal system.  By the time a ruling is finalised he will be living on Mars by then ????

I hope Unsworth has no skeletons in his closet, because his entire life if about to be scrutinized.

 

I hope he wins. Musk was out of line.

I wonder how effective issuing an Interpol Red Notice will be.

I hope Musk wins and that Unsworth ends up paying Elon for the stupid comments he made. That would be really fun to see! 

The lawyers will be the only true winners when this ends.

Both guys will end up looking bad in the end.  

 

 

Edited April 28, 20197 yr by stanleycoin

I wonder why he said in the first place he knew he would get in trouble once he said it

Looks like Vern Isn't going to have to worry about money ever again, and quite deservedly so. 

Mr. Musk should grow up and learn to keep his shitty mouth shut, and hopefully the financial hit he takes will commence that process.

3 minutes ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Mr. Musk should grow up and learn to keep his shitty mouth shut, and hopeully the financial hit he takes will commence that process.

That statement can be applied to both parties

34 minutes ago, DLock said:

I hope Unsworth has no skeletons in his closet, because his entire life if about to be scrutinized.

Everyone does, especially living in Thailand, you really need to talk to members of the Cave Team to know this guy as much as i do... 

What a PAIR of fools, the Lawyers will be the only winners and Vern will have had every part of his life invaded and publicised.

I hope someone gets them to settle quickly and move on before it gets very nasty.

What a PAIR of fools, the Lawyers will be the only winners and Vern will have had every part of his life invaded and publicised.
I hope someone gets them to settle quickly and move on before it gets very nasty.

If they had something against him they would have made him stop his lawsuit already before losing this.

Why is that so unbelieveable that unsworth is just another boring european that didn't do anything too bad in his life?? [emoji848]



Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Elon Musk to face defamation lawsuit

Something else to distract Musk from his real worries.......like Tesla going broke.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/teslas-financial-problems-return-2019-2019-3?r=US&IR=T

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Musk then went on to call Unsworth “a pedo guy” on Twitter. The post was later deleted and he apologised.

Musk actually apologised to his Tesla shareholders for this comment, not to Unsworth.

After this Musk then doubled down with the "child rapist" comment. 

 

He deserves everything he will get (or more accurately lose).  I hope it will be enough to hurt him (whether it's Unsworth of the lawyers that benefit).

43 minutes ago, racket said:

I hope Musk wins and that Unsworth ends up paying Elon for the stupid comments he made. That would be really fun to see! 

I second this.

 

Musk made a valid offer. Sure his sub wouldn't have worked, but he didn't know the layout of the caves. Not his fault. 

 

Regardless, what sort of total creep replies, "he can stick his submarine where it hurts"? How sick and pathetic can you get. 

This is where these cases get stupid. This was almost forgot about and now it is going to court the "pedo" headlines will reappear in the papers every time there is a minor development. With appeals how long could that go on for. Musk was bang out of order but Vern played his part by winding him up. This should have ended at the apology!

 

As others have said i hope Vern is 1000% sure he didn't have any dalliances in Pattaya (or anywhere) in the past where his acquaintance may have been the wrong side of legal. He may be in for a pay day but think i prefer the quiet life with the skeletons locked in the closet. 

 

Vern is in a no lose situation.  His counsel are acting on a no win no fee basis.  They were no doubt lining up to take on this case.  Not often you get to work on a Res ipsa loquitur matter where the defendant is a billionaire.

Edited April 28, 20197 yr by Khaeng Mak

1 hour ago, DLock said:

I hope Unsworth has no skeletons in his closet, because his entire life if about to be scrutinized.

 

I hope he wins. Musk was out of line.

 

The only skeleton in his closet he could hope to find to negate the allegation of defamation would be evidence of pedophilia.

I hope he gets millions and inturn helps out the boys a bit. You cant post something like that and get away with it

Elon Musk may be a brilliant visionary but he is also a thin-skinned egomaniac. He should settle and move on. 

2 minutes ago, helloagain said:

I hope he gets millions and inturn helps out the boys a bit. You cant post something like that and get away with it

 

Many millions and uses it to develop a cave rescue technology far superior than Musk's rush job.

1 hour ago, racket said:

I hope Musk wins and that Unsworth ends up paying Elon for the stupid comments he made. That would be really fun to see! 

Do you live in Thailand? If so you are sticking up for a bloke that insinuated that all men who live in Thailand are pedos!

Elon Musk is alleged to have written in an email to a BuzzFeed reporter: "He's an old, single white guy from England who's been travelling to or living in Thailand for 30 to 40 years, mostly Pattaya Beach, until moving to Chiang Rai for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time.

"There's only one reason people go to Pattaya Beach. It isn't where you go for caves, but it is where you'd go for something else. Chiang Rai is renowned for child sex-trafficking."

He reportedly added: "As for this alleged threat of a lawsuit, which magically appeared when I raised the issue (nothing was sent or raised beforehand), I hope he f****** sues"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescuer-accusations-buzzfeed-email

All over this. Can't you take a little criticism Elon?

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

And failed. Excellent.

I suspect now is around the time that he will try to settle out of court, as he is going to get hammered if he tries to fight it.

I suspect Vern Unsworth would not want to settle out of court. He will enjoy watching Musk squirm in court.

7 minutes ago, tabarin said:

Please come on, overrate the whole mountain experience and blow it up to something you even dare to compare to Tesla ideas. Hahahaha.

 

I am not comparing the method the rescuers used to their space rocket, I'll leave that little one to you, I am comparing it to their solution to this problem.

 

Tesla's idea was a repurposed tank with an airtank attached to it.

 

They already had a way to keep the boys tight in one position while they were maneuvered by the divers and they already had a way to get the boys air, its old technology, nothing new was proposed by Tesla, other than the fact that they were to be inside a tube. 

 

Cave rescue stretchers are designed for the task, they fold up so can be taken in easily, they have the minimum profile and can be adjusted to allow for tight spots to be squeezed through, and most importantly they allow full access to the patients head so that the doctor can be assured that the patient is breathing.  A full face mask assured that they did not lose their air supply and sedating them ensured that they did not panic and fight against their rescuers or try to remove their mask.

 

Tesla's design was not better than the solution in any way, it was bulkier, it didn't fold when empty, and it didn't allow the doctor access to the patient as they were stuck in a tube, it was a crappy design and they didn't use it, no reason to give it any attention other than the fact that there are those so taken by Tesla that even their failures are better than the saving of these children's lives.

27 minutes ago, Wilsonandson said:

Elon Musk is alleged to have written in an email to a BuzzFeed reporter: "He's an old, single white guy from England who's been travelling to or living in Thailand for 30 to 40 years, mostly Pattaya Beach, until moving to Chiang Rai for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time.

"There's only one reason people go to Pattaya Beach. It isn't where you go for caves, but it is where you'd go for something else. Chiang Rai is renowned for child sex-trafficking."

He reportedly added: "As for this alleged threat of a lawsuit, which magically appeared when I raised the issue (nothing was sent or raised beforehand), I hope he f****** sues"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescuer-accusations-buzzfeed-email

 

Two days later they reported,

Quote

Unsworth, who said he was considering legal action after the original insults on Twitter, is now moving forward with a lawsuit, his lawyer said in an email to the Guardian on Tuesday: “Elon Musk’s campaign of publishing vile and false accusations against Mr Unsworth is inexcusable. Musk hopes to be sued and he deserves to be sued. He will be.”

https://www.buzz.ie/news/elon-musk-sue-298387

 

1 hour ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Looks like Vern Isn't going to have to worry about money ever again, and quite deservedly so. 

Mr. Musk should grow up and learn to keep his shitty mouth shut, and hopefully the financial hit he takes will commence that process.

Vern was the person that started all this nonsense in the first place, He can give it but cannot take it obviously. I hope ELON hires a bevy of private investigators and turns Vern's life upside down. Vern better hope he has been a saint all his life becuase all his dirty laundry is about the be uncovered and aired for all to see! Elon will drag this case through the courts and Vern will be bankrupt before he ever sees a payout!

I don't even like Elon but Vern deserves most of the blame on this one!!

Edited April 28, 20197 yr by theonetrueaussie