A legal threat before the premiere

Musk is threatening to sue Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney over a new documentary about him, which Musk keeps calling a hit piece.

Four hours, not a tribute

The film, titled "Musk," runs four hours and covers his South African childhood, his dot-com start, and his move into politics. It is critical, and that is the problem.

The defamation claim

Musk's lawyer Alex Spiro wrote to Gibney's Jigsaw Productions alleging the film falsely suggests Musk rigged the 2024 election for Trump. Musk did spend nearly $300 million backing the campaign.

“You are therefore on notice, before release, that the insinuation is false”

The scene at issue

Ashley St. Clair, who had a child with Musk and later fell out with him, describes texts where he says he is optimistic about Trump winning. NPR says it authenticated them.

“tomorrow we unleash the anomaly in the matrix”

An old grudge

Musk called the film a hit piece back in 2023, when almost nothing about it was public. Gibney's reply: "How would you know?" Musk posted at least five attacks as the Venice premiere approached.

“He's a douchebag to his core and, in his own words, incredibly biased against me.”

The suit probably goes nowhere

US defamation law is famously hard to win. St. Clair called the threats a joke, and the attention now guarantees more people hear about the film.

“They are more likely to colonize Mars than win a defamation case against Alex Gibney”