British diver and cave expert Vern Unsworth said he is considering suing Elon Musk over a tweet — since deleted — in which the tech billionaire branded him “a pedo.”
Unsworth, who played a major role in this month’s rescue of 12 boys and their coach, said today that he had not reviewed the tweets in full and had only heard people talking about them.
“I believe he’s called me a pedophile. Well, by definition, you’re rescuing 12 young boys, by definition that puts everybody in the same context,” he told Australia’s Channel 7 News.
“I’m not going to make any further comment about him, but I think people realize what sort of guy he is.”
Asked if he’d take legal action, he told AFP: “If it’s what I think it is, yes.”
Musk’s wholly unsubstantiated comment came after Unsworth publicly called the tech tycoon’s trip to drop off a mini-submarine in Thailand a “publicity stunt” and suggested that Musk “stick his submarine where it hurts.”
Musk, who’s kid-sized sub was not used in the rescue and has drawn some relatively nasty online mockery, then responded late last night with a tweet that referred to Unsworth as “pedo guy,” while defending the sub’s capabilities.
If you think he’d have immediately understood that was a mistake, you’d have thought wrong. Instead, he doubled down, tweeting: “Bet ya signed dollar it’s true.” Good times.
Musk then either came to his senses or someone in his camp had a quiet word with him, as the tweets were then deleted — though not before being saved and spread across the internet.
The caver said he’s flying back to the UK this week, but told that Australian news channel that his business with Musk “ain’t finished.”
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