No apology to Elon Musk from British diver at 'pedo guy' defamation trial
TheBritishcave explorer suingElonMuskfor calling him a "pedo guy" on Twitter testified on Thursday that his criticism of the Tesla Inc chief executive that led to the tweet was not a personal attack.
In thedefamationtrial's third day, Vernon Unsworth also refused to apologize for a July 13, 2018, CNN interview in which he said thatMusk's offer of a mini-submarine to help rescue a boys' soccer teamfroma flooded Thailand cave was a "PR stunt" andMuskcould "stick his submarine where it hurts."
"My insult was to the tube and not to Mr.Muskpersonally," Unsworth said while being cross-examined by Bill Price, one ofMusk'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 threeMusktweets on July 15, 2018, five days after thediverhelped complete the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coachfromthe 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 askedMuskabout 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 damagesfromMusk, 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 majordefamationlawsuit brought by a private individual to go totrialover 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 are expected to begin deliberations Friday after Judge Stephen Wilson formally instructs them before the two sides give closing arguments. Wilson rejected a motionfromMusk's lawyers to dismiss the case.
The Unsworthtrialhas revived discussion ofMusk’s erratic behavior during 2018 when he also used Twitter to float a leveraged buyout proposal for Tesla that was scuttled and ultimately led toMuskpaying $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 thedefamationargument, suggesting Unsworth's reputation was unsullied and that he even tried to profitfromhis role in the rescue, which won him plauditsfromthe Thai andBritishgovernments.
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."
Unsworth's legal team called expert witness Jim Jansen who said theMusktweets were disseminated widely in the news media - 490 English language articles in 33 countries.
They also called Unsworth's estranged wife who gave him a character endorsement, despite the fact that Unsworth is living with his girlfriend part of the time in Thailand.
The "pedo-guy" tweet was "totally false", she said.
In his own testimony,Muskdismissed his tweets as an "off the cuff" response to watching a replay of Unsworth's CNN interview, at a time he felt overworkedfromrunning Tesla, which makes electric cars, and SpaceX, a rocket company that offered the mini-submarine.
To win his lawsuit, Unsworth needs to showMuskwas negligent in publishing a falsehood that clearly identified him and caused him harm. He does not need to show thatMuskacted with "actual malice," which is much tougher to prove.