Judge rejects Musk’s arguments to dismiss “pedo guy” defamation suit

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A federal judge in California has rejected Elon Musk’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Vern Unsworth, a British caver who aided with the rescue of a dozen boys in Thailand last year.

Musk’s lawyers had argued that his remarks describing Unsworth as a “pedo guy” were mere statements of opinion that cannot be defamatory under US law. Judge Stephen Wilson rejected these arguments and scheduled a jury trial to start on October 22.

“Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it”

Musk’s feud with Unsworth began last summer, when Musk had a team of SpaceX engineers build a miniature submarine to help extract the Thai boys. The device turned out to be unnecessary, as divers had already rescued the boys before it arrived.