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Things went south between ‘the’ Elon Musk and British Driver, Verno Unsworth after Musk’s involvement (Pedo Guy Tweet) in the Thai rescue- a rescue mission of twelve members of the Wild Boars youth Soccer team alongside their coach who were trapped by rising floodwaters in Tham Luang Cave network on June 23.
The Telsa Boss had given out instructions to his employees to build a mini submarine to help save the boys. Unsworth who called the intervention nothing but a PR stunt said in an interview with CNN that Musk should ‘’stick his submarine where it hurts’’. This resulted in the ‘Pedo-guy’ tweet as a reaction from Musk to Unsworth.
Verno Unsworth, who said the tweet made him feel ‘’humiliated, ashamed and dirty’’ took Musk to court (September 2018). His Lawyer L. Lin Wood demanded $190 million in damages. He argued Musk’s tweet is defamatory as it would take a toll on his client’s (Unsworth) job prospect for several years to come and also on his relationship. Lin Wood likened Musk’s tweet to a ‘nuclear-bomb’.
Earlier in the week, Unsworth and Musk testified to their earnings and worth respectively. Unsworth annual income valued at 25,000 pounds while Musk’s worth is $20 billion.
The defence attorney Alex Spiro said during the trial that the tweets are an off-hand insult that occurred in the midst of an argument or in the midst of a fit of rage and shouldn’t be taken seriously. ‘
In arguments you insult people, no bomb went off’ he put out. The defence attorney put it to Unsworth as only looking for fame and money. The Telsa Boss Elon Musk under an Oath testified that the use of the informal term ‘pedo-guy’ which means paedophile was not intended to be taken literally and while in the witness box, he apologized to Unsworth.
According to the US District Judge Stephon Wilson, the outcome of the trial is determined on whether a reasonable person would take the ‘pedo-guy’ tweet literally. Which questioned if anyone would actually take the tweet of Musk calling Unsworth a paedophile seriously .
The Jury made a unanimous decision for less than 45 minutes and declared Elon Musk free of defamation. ‘My faith in humanity is restored’ the Telsa boss said on Friday after he was declared free.
Unsworth a private individual and a British driver who gained fame in his involvement in Thai rescue said after he left the courtroom ‘I accept the Jury’s Verdict, take it on the chin and get on with my life’. Although Unsworth said the verdict didn’t go the way he expected it to pan out, he, however, respects the decision of the Jury.
His lawyer Lin Wood who refers to the Telsa Boss has a billionaire bully said following the close of the case ‘It’s not the verdict we wanted. But it’s the end of the road and we now close this Chapter’.