Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, whose name has repeatedly cropped up throughout the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard ongoing defamation lawsuit, has denied sexually harassing a woman on his private jet.
The woman, who worked for Musk's SpaceX company as a flight attendant, claimed that back in 2016, Musk exposed his erect penis to her mid-flight, that he rubbed her leg without consent and said that if she performed an erotic massage on him that he would gift her a horse in return (according to a report by Business Insider).
This same unnamed woman was also reportedly paid £250,000 by Musk's SpaceX aerospace company in an out of court settlement.
Musk, who is set to take over the reigns of Twitter, has now used the platform to deny any wrongdoing. When a fellow Twitter user asked, "Where were these wild accusations against @elonmusk before he took a stand against the establishment?" [in reference to Musk's pledge to bring 'free speech' back to the social media site], he replied "Exactly" in one tweet. He then followed up with a second reading: "And, for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue."
It's claimed that the incident between Musk and the flight attendant took place in 2016 and that a settlement was agreed two years later. The woman said in her declaration in support of her claim that after taking the job with SpaceX she was 'encouraged to train as a masseuse' in order to provide Musk with additional services – she consented to this training.
She added that it was during a massage session, while flying on Musk’s Gulfstream jet, that she he inappropriately made advances to her.
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The woman's declaration alleges that during the massage Musk "exposed his genitals" and "touched her and offered to buy her a horse if she would 'do more', referring to the performance of sex acts". She claims she declined but continued on with the rest of the massage.
The unnamed flight attendant also wrote in her declaration that following this alleged experience with Musk she was "pushed out" of her job and "punished for refusing to prostitute herself". A friend of the flight attendant also spoke to Business Insider and said, "Before the incident, she regarded Mr. Musk as a person to look up to, but after he exposed himself, touched her without permission, and offered to pay her for sex, she was full of anxiety."
When approached for comment by Business Insider, Musk initially asked for more time to respond and later sent an email saying: "If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light. He also referred to the story as a "politically motivated hit piece".
Musk is the world's wealthiest man. He has an estimated fortune of $212 billion.
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
