Tesla boss Elon Musk wins defamation trial over 'pedo guy' tweet

[denby45]

1 minute ago, tominbkk said:

Not really, in the States there is a law for everyone.  Pedo guy played his hand and lost.  190 million dollars?  hahahaha.

And there you have it. Your quote "Pedo Guy" proves beyond any shadow of doubt that Unsworth will now be branded Pedo Guy. I am happy that you think that is funny. I hope you never get into a similar situation yourself.

 

Den

[tifino]

 the Thai girlfriend is going to be really miffed! 

 

 

all her family, and village were already lining up at his door - party cancelled

[monkfish]

11 minutes ago, denby45 said:

I agree Unsworth was an idiot for his part. However me calling him an idiot would never result in him suing me. It's banter. Politicians insult each other all the time in front of millions of viewers. It's all about the degree of the insult and what is utterly unacceptable. Again I will reiterate. Insulting someone with an off the cuff remark is not the same as calling someone a pedophile.

Den 

Had Unsworth not gone on CNN then I doubt Musk would have called Unsworth a "Pedo Guy" on Twitter.

[Grusa]

Vernon Unsworth went to the best legal system that money can buy.

 

But, it wasn't his money. 

[Mick501]

He may have won the court case, but lost a lot of support.  Can't imagine the process and having his private life opened up was much fun either.  Worthwhile exercise in that regard as a good deterrent.

[BobBKK]

Surprising I thought a 100k pay out and apology. Vern got greedy and went for 145m now he has his legal teams bills to pay. The reason he won was he deleted the Tweet and apologised. Vern should have asked for compensation at that stage not going for the 'Big Win' of $145m.  This was no big deal lets's be honest Elton just got angry and later apologised and took it down. Vern started it all by being rude about an offer of help from one of the world's smartest inventors.

[Asking for a friend]

3 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

A reputation for being a peedo in the UK is a death sentence. 

Ironic, that, since all the most notorious ones are Brits.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Asking for a friend
Changed famous to notorious

[denby45]

2 minutes ago, monkfish said:

Had Unsworth not gone on CNN then I doubt Musk would have called Unsworth a "Pedo Guy" on Twitter.

I wonder how many times I have to say this. Elon Musk had every right to go on twitter and slag Unsworth off. Anyone would have done the same. However you DO NOT call someone a pedophile unless you have undeniable proof. "I did it in the heat of the moment" is no excuse. If you kill someone in the heat of the moment you are still guilty of murder. It may be a lesser crime than premeditated but it's still murder. This guy has to live with the title Pedo Guy for the rest of his life. Should he get 180 mil for that? I don't think so because it does not warrant such a penalty IMHO. Unsworth got greedy.

 

Den

[BobBKK]

3 minutes ago, denby45 said:

I wonder how many times I have to say this. Elon Musk had every right to go on twitter and slag Unsworth off. Anyone would have done the same. However you DO NOT call someone a pedophile unless you have undeniable proof. "I did it in the heat of the moment" is no excuse. If you kill someone in the heat of the moment you are still guilty of murder. It may be a lesser crime than premeditated but it's still murder. This guy has to live with the title Pedo Guy for the rest of his life. Should he get 180 mil for that? I don't think so because it does not warrant such a penalty IMHO. Unsworth got greedy.

 

Den

The Court disagrees with you. The defence was 'heat of the moment' and 'JDart'  (Joke and Dart) which is what Elton did.

[BestB]

20 minutes ago, denby45 said:

I would say everyone's reputation is the same if you have money or not.

 

 

Den

You could say anything you like. Only question was not about having or not having money.

[Wake Up]

3 hours ago, mittheimp said:

Very odd. Probably the worse insult you can give.. and then doubled down on it in several ways.. given by someone with a global reach of millions. If that is not defamation then i dont know what is.

Not worth 190 million dollars. Or anywhere close to that. I bet the jury was not impressed with either of these “grown men” but we all screw up. Most of us don’t sue each other for 190 million dollars just because one of us is rich. Both overreacted IMO and wasted a lot of time and money on lawyers. Happy the jury told the grown men to walk away from this pissin$ matc$

[tifino]

imagine what the Civil Criminal proceeding would have been like, if all this was heard in Thailand!! the country where they were both, when it all hit the fan...

 - off to Gaol, pedo guy - you lost you pay

[ThomasThBKK]

1 minute ago, Wake Up said:

Not worth 190 million dollars. Or anywhere close to that. I bet the jury was not impressed with either of these “grown men” but we all screw up. Most of us don’t sue each other for 190 million dollars just because one of us is rich. Both overreacted IMO and wasted a lot of time and money on lawyers. Happy the jury told the grown men to walk away from this pissin$ matc$

These cases are usually based on ones networth and income. 

190 000 mio usd is less than 1% of Elons networth, wouldn't hurt him much. 

 

Surprise there's nothing here about how elon pressured thai officials too: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-pressured-thai-officials-for-positive-pr.html

[monkfish]

 

12 minutes ago, denby45 said:

I wonder how many times I have to say this. Elon Musk had every right to go on twitter and slag Unsworth off. Anyone would have done the same. However you DO NOT call someone a pedophile unless you have undeniable proof. "I did it in the heat of the moment" is no excuse. If you kill someone in the heat of the moment you are still guilty of murder. It may be a lesser crime than premeditated but it's still murder. This guy has to live with the title Pedo Guy for the rest of his life. Should he get 180 mil for that? I don't think so because it does not warrant such a penalty IMHO. Unsworth got greedy.

 

Den

Don't compare to Murder it's wasn't criminal offence.

Had Unsworth just let it go the whole planet would have forgot about it in second now he made himself famous with that name.
Kind of reminds me of a school playground where kids  throw the worst insults then when in front of the headmaster are like but but but he called me a ^**(_0-lXX which it much worse sir.
 

Edited December 7, 2019 by monkfish

[Thingamabob]

No fan of Musk or his products, but this was always going to come out in his favour. Vern should have sued for 100k USD or so. He aet the bar far too high, he lost, and now he willl always be renembered as the pedo guy. Badly advised I reckon.

[Sheryl]

3 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

No fan of Musk or his products, but this was always going to come out in his favour. Vern should have sued for 100k USD or so. He aet the bar far too high, he lost, and now he willl always be renembered as the pedo guy. Badly advised I reckon.

 

A jury always has the option of awarding lower damages than requested. So I am not sure this was a factor.

[Penicillin]

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, andygrr said:

Had Vern been an American it might have gone the other way. Cards were stacked against a Brit againt an American in an American court.

Sure, because Americans are so much more sympathetic towards some carpetbagger from South Africa via Canada.

[FruitPudding]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

I never realised he was seeing $180 million in damages . Hardly surprising he lost

 

maybe if he was more smart and seeking $100000-200000 he would of won but $$180 million ?????

Exactly.

 

That is life changing money for many people.

 

He got greedy.

[ianezy0]

4 hours ago, MarineEquine said:

One law for the rich and another for the poor. 

As a billionaire in Thailand I resemble this remark!

[ianezy0]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

This is just wrong.

 

I know that both sides do share some blame, but labeling a guy 'Pedo' on a public forum for no good reason should not be allowed.

 

I am a fan of Elon most of the time, but not at this time.

 

Hey Elon! Do the right thing and cut this guy a cheque for all his attorney's fees; you are a multi-billionaire and it is (literally!) the least that you can do.

 

 

No one gets rich by giving their money away 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, sirineou said:

Elon Musk is a public person with a lot invested on his reputation, when someone goes on National TV and calls him out, Calling his endeavour a Publicity stunt, and insulting his masculinity  by suggesting that Musk's work is so faulty that he should "stick it where it hurts"  what do you think it would had done to his reputation?? At that level you show weakness you are tost.

There is a saying "it is better to lose an eye than to lose your good name" 

How many others do you think would have gone after him if they thought he was an easy roll-over,

Elon Musk has a very good reputation for his work. As far as I know Unsworth didn't criticize the quality of the "submarine". He said (in a not nice way) that it is not usable for the rescue in the cave. Would anybody doubt Musk's engineering knowledge because one unknown guy said it can't be used? I have my doubts.

[BigC]

TheThe winners  are the lawyers

 

 

Maybe if he didnt ask for 190 million maybe they might  have taken a bit more serious

 

But 190 million dollars over an insult  regardless of how much he is worth would be hard  to pusrade a jury  that a stupid comment was worth  that much 

 

[monkfish]

8 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

A jury always has the option of awarding lower damages than requested. So I am not sure this was a factor.

I think it was a factor because it demonstrates Unsworth could have been motivated by money I mean many people have been murdered for muuutch less than $190,000,000

[BigC]

Then again  if he was a muslim and he insulted islam he probably could have clesned him out

[BigC]

4 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Vern should not have wasted his time and money. 

 

That aggressive defamation nonsense only works in undeveloped countries like Thailand. 

 

Never should have mouthed off about Musk's efforts to help either. 

Why don't  you leave then

 

I like  that cannot lie to public  without evidence 

[ironbark]

4 hours ago, cmarshall said:

Musk is a psychopath, not the kind of person I would want to have as a friend.

Careful who you call a psychopath. You might end up with a defamation claim against you.

 

[Odisan]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

maybe if he was more smart and seeking $100000-200000 he would of won but $$180 million ?????

"...he would **have** won." He's likely smart enough to know that difference.

However, I agree with the sentiment. $180 million is a ridiculous sum. Should've gone for much lower, taken a full, public apology, and put it to rest.

[Gee Ku]

For years my neighbour has been calling me Phee (พี่) whenever he sees me. Now with Elon Musk's victory in the US court he would be emboldened to add Doh (โด) to the  "Phee".

[JimmyTheMook]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

I never realised he was seeing $180 million in damages . Hardly surprising he lost

 

maybe if he was more smart and seeking $100000-200000 he would of won but $$180 million ?????

 

Maybe a new tweet - 'Greedy Guy'