- Elon Musk brought Grimes' social media posts into their custody battle.
- Musk used Grimes' posts about living in Texas to argue the state has jurisdiction over the case.
Elon Musk has dragged Grimes' social media posts into his ongoing custody battle with the singer, according to court records obtained by Business Insider.
Musk cited a series of Grimes' posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, in his latest filing this week as the former couple dukes it out in Texas and California courts over which state should have jurisdiction in their custody dispute.
Musk and Grimes, whose legal name is Claire Boucher, both filed child custody lawsuits against each other in September in Texas and California, respectively. They have three children together: X, Exa, and Tau.
The billionaire is trying to prove Texas should have jurisdiction over the case and he's bringing receipts to shore up his argument.
In an amended petition filed Monday, the X owner said Grimes posted on the site on multiple occasions saying that she lives in Texas. Musk cites seven posts from social media that Grimes wrote between February 2021 and October 2023 in the court document.
The "tweets reflected her continued residence," Musk's filing reads. He alleges Grimes and the kids lived with him in a shared Texas home as recently as July of 2023.
In her California suit, however, Grimes claimed she moved with the children to California on December 31, 2022.
But Musk said her posts on X indicate otherwise.
Attorneys for Musk and Grimes did not respond to a request for comment.
Grimes' tweets could come back to haunt her
"Austin I'm moving houses purging clothes," Grimes posted on X on April 26, 2023. In the post, Grimes asked Texas locals for the best way to donate her clothes ahead of her move. (Musk claims in his complaint that Grimes was moving in with him at the time.)
Austin I'm moving houses purging clothes. Have so much gifted from designers that didn't fit or old show costumes etc. can drop at goodwill, but is there a place I could drop this for ppl who might want it? Either To resell or there's sum rly sick stuff that just doesn't fit me
— Grimes (@Grimezsz) April 26, 2023
The following month, Grimes posted about Texas housing, encouraging her followers to contact state lawmakers about prioritizing affordable housing in the state.
"Those tweets are extremely damaging to Grimes and her credibility," Christopher Melcher, a California family law attorney and partner at Walzer Melcher, told Business Insider.
As both courts try to determine which state should have jurisdiction in the case, judges tend to favor the state in which the children had been living for the previous six months in order to minimize disruption to the kids' lives, family law attorneys said.
Although Grimes claimed she has resided in California with her two youngest children since December 31, 2022, her Texas-centric tweets from April and May of 2023 could suggest otherwise, Melcher said.
"It's going to be very difficult for her to reconcile why she's making public statements that she lives in Austin when she, later, under oath in the California action, stated that she's been living in California," Melcher said.
In previous filings, Musk has accused Grimes of moving to California in order to avoid Texas courts. The Tesla CEO has good reason to want the case to play out in Texas, which caps monthly child-support payments at just $2,760 per month for three children. He would likely face much heftier child support payments in California, which has no cap.
Musk is trying to prove the kids live in Texas
Musk does appear to concede in his complaint that Grimes was living at least part-time in San Francisco and the children were traveling back and forth between the two states. He noted that the kids "have been temporarily absent from Texas for stays in California when their mother was working, visiting there, or when she left them in the care of nannies while she traveled."
If the children had no obvious home state for the past six months, judges will next look to which state the children have more ties to, zeroing in on their schooling and medical history, Peter Walzer, a family law expert and partner at Walzer Melcher, said.
In his amended complaint this week, Musk said the children had been attending school in Texas up until August 2023 and had a regular pediatrician in the state — evidence that likely bolsters his case, Melcher added.
Musk said his relationship with Grimes began to break down shortly after the pair visited Tokyo together in August, according to the filing. The billionaire said Grimes flew back to California on a commercial flight on August 23 and their two youngest children "have not been back in Texas" since.
Musk said in his amended complaint that he took legal action after he realized Grimes "was not returning to Texas with the younger children." Meanwhile, the pair's oldest son, X, has stayed with him in Texas, both parents have said in previous court documents.
The court documents are just the latest in the former couple's ongoing custody battle. Grimes has previously said in a legal filing that Musk spent less than half his time over the past year in Texas, arguing California should have jurisdiction over the case. The singer has also accused Musk of keeping their 3-year-old son, X, in Texas against her objections in prior filings.
Musk and Grimes first started dating in 2018 and had been in an on-again, off-again relationship up until earlier this year.