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SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's A lawyer said Tuesday in court that the British cave diver who had been involved in a public dispute with his client and subsequently sued for defamation could not get any damages because his reputation had not been harmed.
In Tuesday's court documents, Musk's new lawyer, Alex Spiro, of Quinn Emmanuel, questioned the motive of Vernon Unsworth, the British cave diver, who filed a defamation suit in September 2018 in court. District of California Central District. The lawsuit was filed after Musk called him a "pedo" and made other statements insinuating that he was a pedophile in a public attack on Twitter. The fight broke out last summer after the rescue of young football players imprisoned in a cave in Thailand.
Musk denies the allegations of defamation in the last answer. Spiro became a Musk lawyer earlier this month.
"We need to question Mr. Unsworth's motive to turn this case into a federal case," wrote Spiro in response to Unsworth's complaint. "Defamation laws exist to protect those whose reputation has been harmed by false statements of fact. In the case of Mr. Unsworth, who has become a public figure, these statements must be formulated with constitutional malice. Mr. Musk has already retracted in public. Mr. Unsworth's request is therefore limited to what Mr. Musk said in a private conversation. Whatever it is, Mr. Unsworth and his reputation are no less well off.
Musk's lawyer said Unsworth was motivated by "his desire to take advantage of the media coverage he had given to induce Musk to reap a financial windfall, despite the absence of any injury." Musk will fight against that, wrote Spiro.
US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson recently rejected a motion to dismiss and instead set a date for the trial. The trial is scheduled to open on October 22nd. This decision means that the Unsworth case is strong enough to be judged.
Musk's lawyers argued that statements on the Internet, and more particularly on unmoderated forums such as Twitter, are supposed to be opinions and not objective facts. The law of defamation does not apply to opinions or insults. But Wilson rejected Musk's argument, in part because of his email interaction with BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac.
The lawsuit alleges that between July 15 and August 30, Musk periodically used Twitter and e-mails to the media to issue false and defamatory charges against Unsworth, including charges of pedophilia and child rape. .
The initial attack on the "pedo-guy" took place after Unsworth gave a critical interview to the media, claiming that the Musk mini-submarine "had no chance to work."
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