Elon Musk and his siblings hated one of their mom's boyfriends so much that they put tiny firecrackers in his cigarettes that exploded, book says

• The Musk siblings hated a man Maye Musk was dating so much they put firecrackers in his cigarettes.
• The man was accused of being abusive in Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk.

Elon Musk and his siblings disliked a man their mother, Maye Musk, was dating so much that they put firecrackers in his cigarettes, Walter Isaacson's new biography of the Tesla CEO says.

The siblings' actions caused the cigarettes to explode when he lit them, the book said. The man in question was abusive, the book said, which added that he dated Maye Musk after she divorced her first husband, Errol Musk.

The man she was dating after the divorce wanted her to marry him, but got another woman pregnant shortly after he proposed, the book said. Maye Musk told Isaacson the woman had been a friend who modeled with her.

Isaacson's book, "Elon Musk," details the billionaire's childhood and the strained relationship between his parents. Isaacson wrote that both of Elon Musk's parents were drawn to "dramatic intensity rather than domestic bliss."

Maye Musk and Errol Musk were married for nine years and are also parents to Kimbal Musk and Tosca Musk. The couple divorced when Elon Musk was eight.

Elon Musk's ex-girlfriend Grimes told Isaacson the Tesla CEO "associates love with being mean or abusive" and his father was partly to blame.

"He's attracted to chaotic evil," Grimes, the singer whose legal name is Claire Boucher, told Isaacson. "It's about his father and what he grew up with, and he's quick to fall back into being treated badly. He associates love with being mean or abusive."

Errol Musk told Insider that any claims he'd been abusive were false.

Maye Musk didn't immediately reply to a request for comment for this story, which was made outside of normal working hours.