Elon Musk’s ‘pedo guy’ tweet did not defame British cave diver and Thai cave rescuer Vernon Unsworth, jury finds

Vernon Unsworth’s lawyer had asked for US$190 million in damages to punish Tesla CEO for dropping ‘nuclear bomb’ on client’s life

Musk says term was meant as insult, and he was not literally calling cave explorer a paedophile

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A sketch shows Elon Musk at the closing arguments of his defamation trial in Los Angeles on Friday. Image: Mona Shafer Edwards via Reuters

Published: 7:22am, 7 Dec 2019Updated: 10:19pm, 7 Dec 2019

Elon Musk did not defame a British cave diver when he called him “pedo guy” in an angry tweet, a Los Angeles jury found on Friday.

Vernon Unsworth, who took part in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for weeks in a Thailand cave last year, had angered the Tesla CEO by belittling his effort to help with the rescue as a “PR stunt”.

Musk said the attack was unprovoked and he only meant the term as an insult for “creepy old man” and was not literally calling Unsworth a paedophile.

Unsworth’s lawyer suggested to a federal jury Friday that it award US$190 million in damages to a British cave explorer who is suing Elon Musk for allegedly branding him as a paedophile during a Twitter spat.

A sketch shows British cave diver Vernon Unsworth during the closing arguments of his defamation trial against Elon Musk in Los Angeles on Friday. Image: Mona Shafer Edwards via Reuters

Lawyer Lin Wood said the suggested award would include US$150 million as a “hard slap on the wrist” to punish Tesla CEO for what he said was akin to dropping an atomic weapon on his client.