Elon Musk has said the claims are ‘utterly untrue’ and has suggested they are political motivated
SpaceX reportedly paid a flight attendant £250,000 as part of a severance agreement in 2018 to stop her speaking out after Elon Musk is said to have exposed himself to her and propositioned her for sex.
At the time the SpaceX boss, who has since denied the claims, was said to be dating Amber Heard who he met at the Met Gala in 2016, and finalising a divorce from Talulah Riley, Insider reported Friday. The incident is alleged in a declaration signed by a friend of the attendant and prepared in support of her claim.
An Insider investigation, published Thursday, found that the flight attendant – who worked on a contract basis in the cabin crew for SpaceX’s corporate jet fleet – accused Musk of exposing his erect penis, touching her leg, and offering to give her a horse in exchange for a sexual favour in late 2016. She declined his proposition, the publication said.
Email correspondence and other records, which the friend provided the publication, reportedly corroborate the claims. The attendant further told her friend that SpaceX encouraged her to get licensed as a masseuse, so she could give Musk massages.
Musk, who is in the process of acquiring Twitter, has denied the claims, saying the “wild accusations are utterly untrue” and on Friday suggested “the attacks” against him were politically motivated. He also challenged his accuser to reveal information about his body to prove the incident happened: “She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened.”
The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook – but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
But I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me “exposed” – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
In a statement to Business Insider, Musk insisted that there is “a lot more to this story.”
“If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light,” he wrote, calling the story a “politically motivated hit piece.”
The flight attendant told her friend that Musk asked her to come to his private room during a flight for a “full body massage,” according to the declaration, and when she did she found him “completely naked except for a sheet covering the lower half of his body”.
Musk reportedly exposed himself to her during the massage, touched her, and urged her to “do more” in exchange for a horse.
According to reports, the attendant believed her hours were cut back at SpaceX following the incident, and in 2018, she contacted an employment attorney and sent a complaint to the company.
SpaceX resolved the complaint after a session involving a mediator and Musk. It did not reach the courts.
In November 2018, Musk, SpaceX, and the attendant entered into a severance agreement granting the attendant $250,000 in exchange for a promise not to sue over the claims. The agreement also reportedly included non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses barring the attendant from disclosing any information about Musk and his businesses.
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