--- title: "It’s Official: Elon Musk Will Go to Trial Over “Pedo” Comments" description: "Yesterday, a U.S. District Judge in LA ruled that a jury will have to decide on Elon Musk’s fate after the billionaire made off-color comments about British cave diver Vernon Unsworth last year, according to Bloomberg. The jury will have to decide whether he was negligent for failing to ensure that accusing Unsworth of paedophilia […]" date: "2019-10-29" modified: "2019-10-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-trial-pedo-comment" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "lawsuit" - "the digest" --- # It’s Official: Elon Musk Will Go to Trial Over “Pedo” Comments ![An LA judge ruled that a jury and trial will decide on the fake of Elon Musk after the billionaire made off-color comments about a British cave diver.]() *\Image: Dan Taylor/Heisenberg Media\* ## Court Date Remember last year, when Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [called a cave diver]() a "pedo guy" on Twitter after the diver criticized his plan to rescue a soccer team of Thai boys who were trapped in a cave? Now the cave diver, Vernon Unsworth, has sued over the comments — and a U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles ruled yesterday that the case will go to trial, [according to *Bloomberg*](). ## Jury Rig The jury will have to decide whether Musk was negligent for failing to ensure that his accusation of pedophilia was true. It's the second time Musk and his legal team have tried unsuccessfully to have Unsworth's lawsuit thrown out. A [previous attempt]() by his team argued that — seriously — "pedo guy" doesn't mean "pedophile." ## Digging Up Dirt Musk paid a convicted felon to dig up dirt on Unsworth, according to a bombshell [report by *BuzzFeed News*](). Musk even called Unsworth a "child rapist" in [emails sent to *BuzzFeed News*]() at the time. In [a statement]() to *Bloomberg*, Musk's lawyer Alex Spiro wrote: "We look forward to the trial. We understand that, while Musk has apologized, Unsworth would like to milk his 15 minutes of fame." Meanwhile, Unsworth's lawyer told *Bloomberg* that he believes Musk could easily be found to be guilty of negligence, as the burden of proof is much higher to prove malice. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk Headed to Trial in U.K. Caver’s Defamation Case]() \[*Bloomberg*\] **More on the controversy:** *[Court Documents: Elon Musk Called Himself a “Fucking Idiot”]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()