Elon Musk sued for defamation over tweets about college graduate
The world’s richest man Elon Musk has been hit with a major lawsuit after he allegedly defamed a US college graduate.
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Elon Musk is being sued for defamation over comments he made in relation to a US college graduate.
Lawyer Mark Bankston announced on X (formerly Twitter) today that he would be launching proceedings against the world’s richest person for his “astonishingly reckless conduct” after the billionaire allegedly linked his client Ben Brody to a violent street brawl.
“In yet another example of Elon Musk’s serial pattern of slander, he falsely told the world that Ben Brody participated in a violent street brawl on behalf of a new-Nazi extremist group,” a filing in the District Court of Texas Travis County stated.
It also alleged that Mr Musk falsely stated that Mr Brody’s purported participation in the brawl was a “false flag” operation designed to deceive the American public.
The lawsuit stated Mr Musk made the “ridiculously false and damaging” statements based on a tweet sent from an “anonymous far-right extremist Twitter account”.
It further alleges Mr Musk amplified the claim for two days before personally levelling the accusations against Mr Brody.
Mr Brody claimed his reputation was permanently injured by Mr Musk and that the billionaire exposed him to “public hatred, contempt and ridicule” by publishing the defamatory statements to an “enormous audience”.
Mr Musk, whose net worth is estimated about $400 billion, has more than 158 million followers on X.
Mr Body claimed he endured “severe personal harassment” as a result of the publication.
The filing cited a settlement between the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Mr Musk over a securities fraud charge and a defamation case brought by Vernon Unsworth, a British cave diver living in Thailand, as evidence of Mr Musk’s “pattern of making false statements on Twitter”.
The alleged defamatory material
The lawsuit claims the defamatory publication was related to a brawl that took place on “Pride Night” in Portland, Oregon on June 24, 2023.
Video footage purported to show members of the Proud Boys group tussling with members of the Rose City Nationalists. Some of the people involved were wearing masks.
Towards the end of the video, the faces of two members of the Rose City Nationalists group became visible. The footage was widely disseminated on social media and there was discussion about identifying the unmasked men.
On June 25, 2023, anonymous Twitter user “DrFrensor” (@drfrensor) posted a screenshot showing Mr Brody and wrote: “After graduation he plans to work for the government.”
The same account also posted biographical information about Mr Brody.
On that day Mr Musk posted the question, “Who were the unmasked individuals?”
Another user @DogeAccept quoted the tweet by DrFrensor and Mr Musk responded, “very odd”.
The next morning Mr Musk replied to a post by YouTube influencer Matt Wallace and stated, “Always remove their masks.”
The lawsuit states that Mr Brody — who has Jewish heritage — realised the “situation was spiralling out of control” and posted a video on Instagram in an attempt to clear his name. It’s alleged those tweets by Mr Musk amplified the publication of defamatory material.
It was on June 27 that the lawsuit alleges that Mr Musk personally defamed Mr Brody.
A link to a blog was posted by @zerohedge with the headline, “Patriot Front ‘White Supremacist’ Unmasked As Suspected Fed”. The article contained a tweet posted by Dillon Fillion which included a screenshot of Bed Brody and his biographical information.
Mr Musk wrote in reply: “Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation”.
Mr Brody’s lawsuit alleges that the phrase “looks like” is equivalent to “the information I have indicates”.
It’s alleged many readers understood the tweet was a reference to Mr Brody and that a reasonable person would conclude Mr Musk had undisclosed information on which he based the assertion.
The lawsuit cited precedent which may limit Mr Musk’s ability to defend the action by claiming his post was merely opinion, including Campbell v. Clark.
The post has been viewed more than 1.2 million times and screenshots have been uploaded to articles.
The lawsuit stated Mr Brody and his family were left “stunned, confused, and afraid after being “defamed by one of the most powerful men on earth”.
Mr Musk has refused to retract his accusation or delete his tweets, and indicated he would seek free shifting if action was commenced on the matter, the lawsuit alleges.
Mr Brody is seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Originally published as Elon Musk sued for defamation over tweets about college graduate
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