# Gibney says Musk went silent on him

> The filmmaker behind the Musk doc says every outreach hit a wall, and now he's worried about who owns the distributor.
- Title: Gibney says Musk went silent on him · The Hollywood Reporter
- Summary: The filmmaker behind the Musk doc says every outreach hit a wall, and now he's worried about who owns the distributor. Gibney stands behind the film's…
- Keywords: documentary, elon musk, tiff, hbo max, media, Gibney, Musk, went, silent, him, The Hollywood Reporter
- Source: The Hollywood Reporter — https://hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/alex-gibney-reached-out-elon-musk-tiff-musk-doc-1236699994
- Author: Etan Vlessing
- Published: 2026-09-13T20:22:39+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: documentary, elon musk, tiff, hbo max, media
## A legal threat, answered
Alex Gibney responded Sunday to a legal threat from Elon Musk over his documentary about the tech billionaire.
## He reached out right away
Gibney told a keynote audience in Toronto that he contacted Musk immediately once the threat landed.

> I reached out immediately… But he clearly wasn't interested in talking.
## Nothing came back
The team made repeated formal requests for an interview. Apart from Musk's posts on Twitter, they got no response at all.

> We made so many formal outreaches to him, and with the exception of his remarks on Twitter, we received nothing back.
## Lawyered and fact-checked
Gibney says the film was heavily lawyered and independently fact-checked, so he's confident his account of Musk holds up.
## The real worry is reach
His bigger concern isn't the threat. It's that the doc may never be widely seen.

> great concern
## Who controls the distributor
HBO Max picked up the film, but Warner Bros. Discovery is being taken over by Paramount, led by tech barons in Musk's orbit.
## Key takeaway

Gibney stands behind the film's reporting, but a Paramount takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery could decide how many people ever see it.