Elon Musk has denounced as “completely untrue” claims in a news report that he sexually assaulted a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016.
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has denounced as “completely untrue” claims in a news report that he sexually assaulted a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016.
Shares of the electric carmaker fell more than 10% on Friday amid fears of alleged sexual misconduct and Musk’s political comments hurting Tesla’s brand and sales.
Business Insider reported Thursday that Musk’s private company SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to settle a sexual assault claim by an unnamed private jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her.
The article quoted an anonymous person as saying that she was a friend of the flight attendant. According to the article, the friend had made a statement as part of the private settlement process.
“I have a challenge to this liar who claims that his friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe only one thing, anything (scars, tattoos, …) that is not known by the public. He is able Won’t be doing this, because it never happened,” Musk wrote on Twitter late Thursday.
Reuters Business Insider was not able to verify the account.
Musk and SpaceX did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment on the Business Insider story or the billionaire’s tweet.
In a statement to Reuters on Friday, Business Insider said: “We stand by our story, which is based on documents and interviews, and which speaks for itself.”
Sexual misconduct claims “have the potential from a PR perspective to turn people off,” said Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid.
Friday’s stock drop took Tesla off the market cap by nearly $66 billion and put the stock at its lowest level since last August.
Shares have fallen sharply since early April as Musk’s plan to buy Twitter sparked concerns about distraction and China’s COVID lockdown measures hurting production at Tesla.
Ross Gerber, CEO of Tesla investor Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management, said he is concerned that Tesla is too dependent on one person, Musk, but believes his generous customers will continue to buy Musk’s cars, even if They did not like what he said. , since Tesla’s mission is clear.
Political attacks?
Business Insider quoted a friend of the flight attendant as saying that in addition to allegedly exposing himself, Musk rubbed the flight attendant’s thigh and offered to buy him a horse if he could during an in-flight massage “more “Will do it.
According to Business Insider, the flight attendant became convinced that Musk’s refusal to accept the offer hurt his chances of working at SpaceX and prompted him to hire a lawyer in 2018.
Business Insider said that in 2018, the rocket company paid $250,000 in return for a promise not to sue the claims and included a non-disclosure agreement that prevented flight attendants from speaking about it. The news site did not name the friend or the flight attendant.
Musk, who is in the midst of a controversial effort to buy Twitter Inc., said Wednesday he would vote Republican instead of Democrat, predicting that a “dirty trick campaign against me” would follow.
On Thursday evening, Musk was the first to tweet, “The attacks against me should be viewed through a political prism – this is their standard (disgusting) playbook – but nothing keeps me from fighting for a better future and your right to freedom of speech.” will prevent.”
In the initial tweet, he did not specifically mention the allegations in the Business Insider article.
He also tweeted that the article was intended to interfere with the Twitter takeover.
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