Elon Musk's transgender daughter says he was an absent and 'cruel' father

• Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's trans daughter, publicly spoke out against her father for the first time.
• In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Wilson responded to Musk's recent anti-trans comments.

Elon Musk's transgender daughter said the Tesla CEO was an absent father who frequently rebuked her for being queer and feminine as a child.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Vivian Jenna Wilson, 20, said Musk was a "cruel" father who was only around "maybe 10% of the time," despite sharing custody of Wilson and her twin brother with his ex-wife, author Justine Musk.

Musk and his lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

In the interview with NBC News, Wilson described Musk as being an unsupportive parent for as long as she could remember.

"He was cold," she said. "He's very quick to anger. He is uncaring and narcissistic."

Wilson said Musk regularly criticized her for displaying traditionally feminine qualities throughout her childhood. She recalled a road trip she took with Musk when she was in fourth grade, which she said was essentially an advertisement for one of his vehicles, during which she said Musk was "constantly" and "viciously" yelling at her because her voice was too high.

"It was cruel," she told the outlet.

Wilson spoke publicly about her relationship with Musk for the first time this week in response to comments he made about her in an interview with conservative commentator and Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson on Monday that was streamed live on X.

Also read: Elon Musk’s 12 kids: All about Musk’s dozen kids and their moms

During the discussion, Musk talked about his relationship with Wilson, repeatedly misgendering her, referring to her by her "deadname," and alleging that he was "tricked" into approving trans-related medical care for her when she was 16 years old.

"I lost my son, essentially," Musk said in the interview. "The reason it's called deadnaming is because your son is dead."

He added that he believed Wilson to be "dead, killed by the woke mind virus."

Wilson, who has stayed out of the public eye until now, told NBC News that Musk's comments went too far.

"I think he was under the assumption that I wasn't going to say anything and I would just let this go unchallenged," Wilson told the outlet. "Which I'm not going to do because if you're going to lie about me, like, blatantly to an audience of millions, I'm not just gonna let that slide."

Wilson told the outlet that her mother was supportive of her desire to start treatment for severe gender dysphoria in 2020, but the state of California requires both parents' approval. Justine Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

When the pandemic happened, Wilson said she saw it as an escape from Musk and an excuse not to see him, calling it "lucky timing."

Needing her father's authorization, however, Wilson said she texted with Musk about the signature before agreeing to meet with him in person.

"He was not by any means tricked. He knew the full side effects," she told NBC News.

Wilson also said he read the medical forms twice — once with her and once alone — before he eventually signed them.

Musk, who is one of the richest people in the world, has moved further and further right in recent years, often using his platform X to rage against liberal ideology.

The political differences between Musk and Wilson were a topic of Musk's recent biography, written by Walter Isaacson. Wilson told NBC News the book — which described her as being a supporter of "radical Marxism" via a quote from Musk's sister-in-law — was inaccurate and unfair. Isaacson also referred to Wilson by her middle name, Jenna, in the book, Wilson said.

Wilson told the outlet that Isaacson never contacted her directly before the book was published. The author told NBC News that he reached out to Wilson's family members in an effort to reach her. Isaacson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

In the book, Isaacson said Musk was pained by the fallout with Wilson and attributed the billionaire's distaste for "wokeness" partially to the rift — something Musk seemed to confirm in his interview with Peterson this week.

Wilson legally changed her name in 2022 to reflect her gender and also to change her surname from Musk to Wilson, writing in California legal documents that she had no desire to be "related to my biological father in any way, shape, or form."