Elon Musk to go on trial over tweet calling Brit Thai cave rescue hero a ‘pedo’

ELON Musk will go to trial to defend himself for calling a British diver a “paedophile” on Twitter. The Tesla billionaire, 47, branded Vernon Unsworth a “pedo guy” in a verbal sparring match during last year’s rescue operation to save 12 boys from a cave in Thailand. Unsworth, 64, had slammed the tech mogul’s offer […]

ELON Musk will go to trial to defend himself for calling a British diver a “paedophile” on Twitter.

The Tesla billionaire, 47, branded Vernon Unsworth a “pedo guy” in a verbal sparring match during last year’s rescue operation to save 12 boys from a cave in Thailand.

Reuters

Unsworth, 64, had slammed the tech mogul’s offer to send a mini-submarine to help bring the kids to safety as a “PR stunt.”

He told CNN that Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts.”

The PayPal co-founder then hit back claiming Unsworth’s role in the rescue was exaggerated before calling him a paedophile on Twitter on July 15 last year.

But a Los Angeles federal court judge yesterday rejected Musk’s attempts to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by the Brit – who lives in Thailand with his 41-year-old girlfriend.

The trial will take place on October 22, according to court filings on Friday.

Musk argued his insulting tweet was protected by freedom of speech, but the judge overseeing the case disagreed.

The South African-born tycoon’s Twitter account had 22.5 million followers at the time he made the claims against the Brit.

Unsworth, who strongly denies the baseless claims made by Musk, is seeking more than $75,000 in damages from the Space X owner – who is worth nearly $20billion (£15bn).

The suit also seeks a court order prohibiting the Tesla CEO from making any further disparaging comments against the cave diver.

This is the second time in less than a year that Musk’s free-wheeling comments on Twitter have saddled him with legal headaches.

Last year, the billionaire and Tesla reached a $40 million settlement over allegations that he misled investors with a tweet declaring he had secured financing for a buyout of the electric car maker.

He then had to go to court earlier this year to defend himself against assertions that he had violated an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission about his tweeting.

Dan Charity - The Sun

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Unsworth, who has been in a relationship with his girlfriend for around eight years, has filed a law suit against Musk[/caption]

Reuters

Twelve young boys were successfully rescued in the operation[/caption]

Reuters

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