Elon Musk Threatens Legal Action Over New Unauthorized Documentary Film
Elon Musk threatens legal action against director Alex Gibney over a new documentary premiering at the Venice Film Festival, challenging claims about Starlink and the 2024 elections.
The world's richest person is heading toward a legal showdown that moves straight from tech halls to cinema screens. Elon Musk is threatening legal action against Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and Jigsaw Productions following the documentary "Musk", which premiered globally at the Venice Film Festival. Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, sent a warning letter claiming the film was built around a predetermined conclusion rather than open investigation.
The Venice Premiere and the 2024 Election Controversy
The central trigger for the legal threat is a segment in the film addressing the 2024 US elections. The documentary features Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk's children, stating that Musk expressed exaggerated confidence in Donald Trump's victory, alongside messages in which he wrote to her about a "matrix anomaly" and "ten thousand lasers in space." When the director asks if he meant Starlink satellites, she replies that she does not know where else he has lasers in space.
"The editing creates a false insinuation as if the SpaceX satellite network was involved in the election process — a claim completely rejected in the past by official figures and fact-checking experts."
Tesla, Mars, and the Close Circle Interviews
The nearly four-hour film (225 minutes) explores the history of Tesla, the Autopilot system, and Musk's promises regarding autonomous driving, while highlighting accidents and pointing out gaps against actual technological capabilities. Gibney also interviewed Musk's first wife, Justine Musk, his father Errol Musk, and Tesla founder Martin Eberhard. St. Clair claims in the film that she was offered a non-disclosure agreement worth approximately 40 million dollars, a claim Musk completely denies. Jigsaw Productions stated in response that the work is based on deep research and facts, and that scrutinizing powerful public figures is constitutionally protected.
