"Bet ya a signed dollar it's true." - Musk's follow-up

It went so, so far beyond a schoolyard taunt. All of my friends and I remember the debacle clearly, and it's the moment we all went from childhood idolizers of Musk to feeling pretty sick about the dude.

Months after he apologized for the initial false "pedo" claim, Musk claimed in an email to Buzzfeed that Unsworth (the rescue diver) was "a child rapist" who "moved to Chiang Rai for a child bride who was 12 years old at the time."

Musk hired a private investigator to confirm the pedophile allegations (which failed, of course).

Try again kiddo. Absolutely pathetic. Defending this shit is a moral failure for you too.

Cite: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45418245

> Writing in an email to Buzzfeed reporter Ryan Mac, Mr Musk went further. He told the reporter to "call people you know in Thailand, find out what's actually going on and stop defending child rapists".

> He alleged that Mr Unsworth, 63, had spent decades visiting and living in Thailand and had recently moved to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand "for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time".

That would qualify as libel, and I don't defend libel.

Yet here you are, doing it.

Reminder:

> "pedo boy" sounds like an insult, not a charge... This is evident from you changing his word from "pedo boy" to "pedophile".

I don't consider "pedo boy" to be slander any more than someone in the west calling another a "motherfucker". It's not actionable, and the lawsuit alleging it to be libel failed for that reason.

>I don't consider "pedo boy" to be slander any more than someone in the west calling another a "motherfucker".

'motherfucker' is a common phrase even outside of strictly english - speaking countries , and very few people go on to explain how the person had sex with a mother.

'pedo boy' is impossibly uncommon, regardless of what the singular defending belligerent claims, and furthermore he went on to publicly accuse the person of actual pedophilia.

yeah : i'm sure it didn't fail in court due to unlimited deep pockets and lawyers on retainer.

is there anything beyond willful ignorance ? You and I have had differences of opinion before, but yeesh -- talk about a hill to die on, defending elons' shite behavior during that phase.

> 'pedo boy' is impossibly uncommon

All it has to be is common in S Africa where he grew up. As I mentioned before, different cultures have widely varying common forms of insults.

> furthermore he went on to publicly accuse the person of actual pedophilia.

That was after being sued for $195 million. I've also remarked that I am not defending libel. A common insult is not libelous.

P.S. People successfully sue rich people all the time, because that's where the money is.

So your argument is that:

1. Musk calling him "pedo boy" isn't Musk actually calling him a pedophile, and there's nothing wrong with a grown man using insults (against an aid worker risking his own life to save children) that 14-year olds in the 80s in South Africa allegedly used on playgrounds

2. Musk telling Buzzfeed that the same exact guy is actually a pedophile (specifically a child rapist) who took a 12 year old bride was totally unrelated to the prior "pedo boy" comment, and you would never defend such an action

Fascinating pretzel you've folded yourself into. Not sure who you think you're fooling, hope it's not you though!

To be clear, I don't think anyone here is suggesting Musk should be held legally accountable for anything. Not sure why you keep falling back to this "libelous" standard. No one cares and defamation suits are virtually impossible in the US.

Your original snarky question was what is reprehensible about him. You are now defending his clearly reprehensible moral character, through some convoluted "didn't mean it but it was okay but also he totally did say the same thing in clearer terms weeks later and I would never defend that."

Interesting to note your own motte-and-bailey retreat on this point too though.

Let's review:

1. Musk offers money and engineering help

2. diver insults Musk on national TV

3. Musk insults diver on twitter

4. diver sues Musk for $195 million

5. Musk retaliates by investigating him

Neither of them are saints, and neither are "reprehensible" people. The jury in the lawsuit called it right by deliberating for one hour and then dismissing the lawsuit.

And insulting someone and engaging in libel is not the same thing, and is not a "retreat".

P.S. It's fine to write your own interpretation of my remarks, but it is not fine to put them in quotes suggesting I wrote them.

I don't know what point you keep trying to make about Musk winning a defamation suit in the US lol. It's virtually impossible to successfully sue someone for defamation here. The outcome of a defamation suit has quite literally zero bearing on the morality of the actions in question.

Anyway I just sent a note into a few publications to let them know that WalterBright is a pedophile child rapist.

That's apparently not even reprehensible under your moral framework.

Could you let me know the contact info of your local newspaper so I can give them this info as well?

Musk did hire the private investigator after the rescue worker sued him for $195 million. I agree Musk shouldn't have done that despite being angry about being sued.

Musk won the lawsuit.

Musk also publicly apologized.

And after Musk publicly apologized, he sent an email to Buzzfeed accusing the rescuer of being a child rapist and moving to Thailand to take a 12 year old bride.

Please continue your defense.

> Musk has said it was a common insult among schoolboys in S Africa.

Consider that maybe "derogatory things wealthy white South Africans say about people in the apartheid era" is not a great standard to live up to.

I never said it was. It also has nothing to do with apartheid.

A white kid growing up in the 80s in South Africa has nothing to do with apartheid?