Vernon Unsworth, the British cave explorer who sued Elon Musk, has narrowed down his defamation lawsuit against Tesla Inc.'s chief executive on Nov. 27 (Wednesday).
The Case vs. Tesla's CEO
According to United States District Judge Stephen Wilson, Unsworth is no longer seeking damages for Musk's email to a BuzzFeed News reporter, suggesting that the British diver is a child rapist. However, Unsworth is still pursuing liability and damages claims for the electric car company's executive's "pedo guy" tweet in July 2018.
Wilson refused to split the trial, arguing that the Tesla founder's state of mind would be the same in both cases. The U.S. judge also decided that a negligence trial for Musk's controversial tweets will take place on Dec. 3 (Tuesday).
The order was issued after a set of hearings took place in Los Angeles. Musk is expected to appear in court to defend himself in testimony, as confirmed by his lawyer Alex Spiro.
Debunking the "Pedo Guy" Tweet
When Unsworth and his diving team rescued 12 boys and their soccer coach from a cave in Thailand in July 2018, the SpaceX founder offered to help with a rescue by lending a mini-submarine from his rocket company.
The British diver criticized Musk's efforts in an interview with CNN, accusing Musk of using the Thailand cave incident for his PR. Unsworth added that Musk could "stick his submarine where it hurts."
On July 15, Musk took to Twitter to post the controversial "pedo guy" tweet, for which he later apologized.
In a court filing, Musk explained that the term "pedo guy" was a common insult he used growing up in South Africa. He added that the term was synonymous with "creepy old man" and is "used to insult a person's appearance and demeanor."
"I did not intend to accuse Mr. Unsworth of engaging in acts of pedophilia," he said. "In response to his insults in the CNN interview, I meant to insult him back by expressing my opinion that he seemed like a creepy old man."
What Happens Next
To win, Unsworth needs to prove that Musk's allegations on his tweets were false. The diver has previously denied the claims, saying that contrary to the allegations, he had shared a house with a 40-year-old woman in the Thailand countryside.
Additionally, Unsworth must prove that the SpaceX's CEO did not use reasonable care to determine their truth and that people reasonably understood the tweets to mean that he was a pedophile.
In the order issued by Wilson, it was ruled that he will admit evidence that suggests Musk has leaked information to the press, which is damaging on Unsworth's behalf.
Spiro refused to give a statement to Reuters on Friday (Nov. 29). Unsworth's lawyer L. Lin Wood also did not respond immediately to the news outlet's requests.
The case is Unsworth v Musk, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 18-08048.
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