Reuters
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (left) and Vernon Unsworth (right) as he arrives at court in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
- Elon Musk's Twitter appears to be business as usual on the day he made a court appearance during a defamation case against him brought by Vernon Unsworth, who Musk called a "pedo guy" on Twitter.
- Musk tweeted about the Cybertruck, hydrogen gas becoming sentient, and an upcoming SpaceX launch in the hours around his court case.
- Last year Musk and Unsworth entered a feud in which Musk was accused of staging a PR stunt in a rescue mission Unsworth carried out in Thailand.
- Musk referred to Unsworth as a "pedo guy" in a tweet he later deleted - Unsworth claims this was a defamatory statement against him.
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In the hours around his tweet-defamation court appearance, Elon Musk tweeted about the Cybertruck, hydrogen gas becoming sentient, and an upcoming SpaceX launch.
Musk took the witness stand in a federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, over his alleged defamation of British cave diver Vernon Unsworth - who he referred to in a tweet as "pedo guy" in a tweet last year.
The Tesla CEO's Twitter feed appeared to be business as usual as he tweeted about hydrogen gas becoming sentient.
He also retweeted an announcement from one of his businesses Space X, announcing the launch of the Dragon spacecraft to the space station.
In another tweet, he answered a query from a Tesla customer about transporting a piece of plywood in the company's new Cybertruck.
Meanwhile in a federal court in Los Angeles Musk testified that his "pedo guy" tweet was "wrong and insulting" but not a literal statement of fact about Unsworth being a pedophile.
The feud between the two men started in 2018, when Vernon took part in a rescue operation that freed 12 boys in Thailand after they became trapped inside a cave in Thailand.
During the incident Musk sent out a purpose-built submarine to the help with the rescue efforts, which Unsworth described as a "PR stunt," and suggested Musk "stick his submarine where it hurts."
In response Musk tweeted: "Sorry, pedo guy, you really did ask for it," which he later deleted.
Musk and his lawyers claim that "pedo guy" is a common insult in South Africa used to mean "creepy guy" and was not a factual statement against Unsworth.
Unsworth's lawyers point to an infamous tweet from 2018 where Musk claimed he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private when he didn't, as an example of how his tweets are taken seriously.
Musk was fined over $40 million in regulatory fines over the incident.
The trial is set to continue on Wednesday when Musk will be questioned by his own attorney, with Unsworth due to testify later in the week.
- Read more:
- Elon Musk testifies in his own defense during explosive opening day of defamation trial over 'pedo guy' tweet
- Elon Musk argues in court documents that his Twitter can't be taken as factual because he tweets about zombie apocalypses and being a Martian
- Watch these unsettling videos of all the times Tesla autopilot drivers were caught asleep at the wheel in 2019
After a while, hydrogen became sentient
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 3, 2019Launching third flight of this Dragon spacecraft to @Space_Station tomorrow https://t.co/mTQ2DrWS97
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2019