Elon Musk went on Twitter to deny charges in a media story that he allegedly harassed a flight attendant on a VIP plane in 2016, daring his critics to prove any of the allegations are true, calling them part of a well-timed ‘politically motivated hit piece.’
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Musk’s SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to resolve a sexual assault allegation from an anonymous private jet crew who alleged Musk of exposing himself to her, according to Business Insider.
Per the post, an anonymous report says to be a buddy of the flight staff. According to the story, the friend gave testimony as part of the private settlement.
“I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened,” Musk sent out a tweet.
The Business Insider report could not be verified by Reuters. Reuters reached out to Musk and SpaceX for clarification on the Business Insider piece and Musk’s tweets, but neither company responded, as reported.
According to a friend of the plane attendant, Musk stroked the airline attendant’s leg and offered to buy her a pony if she might “do more” during an in-flight massaging, in addition to allegedly revealing himself.
As per Business Insider, the attendant became concerned that her rejection to accept Musk’s invitation had damaged her prospects of working at SpaceX, forcing her to seek legal advice in 2018.
Thus according to Business Insider, the rocket company negotiated an out-of-court settlement which included a nondisclosure deal that banned the attendant from discussing it. The companion and flight attendant were not identified by the news outlet.
Elon, who is also the CEO of Tesla Inc. and is in the middle of a heated bid to acquire Twitter Inc., announced on Wednesday that he will vote Republican instead of Democrat, fearing a “dirty tricks campaign against me.”
Musk was mentioned in the Business Insider article as saying that the flight passenger’s allegation was a “politically motivated hit piece” with “a lot more to this story.”
“The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook – but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech.” Musk tweeted on Thursday evening. He did not expressly cite the claims in the Business Insider report in his first tweet.
“And, for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue,” Musk said in another tweet.
He also claimed that the piece was written to derail Twitter’s takeover.
Business Insider could not be reached for comment by Reuters.