Elon Musk was supposedly discovered not accountable for damages in a libel case brought by a British cavern scuba diver.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk was found not liable for damages in a libel case, according to a Buzzfeed News press reporter attending the trial Friday afternoon. The case was brought versus him by British cavern scuba diver Vernon Unsworth, whom Musk called a “pedo guy”, in 2015. Jurors found in favor of the billionaire, according to a press reporter from The Verge. A jury of 5 ladies and 3 males pondered for under an hour prior to deciding, CNET sibling website CBS News reported.
In July 2018, Musk had actually called Unsworth, a scuba diver who assisted save a young boys’ soccer group caught in a Thai cavern, a “pedo guy” on Twitter after the scuba diver slammed Musk’s proposed submarine rescue strategy. Unsworth took legal action against Musk for character assassination in September 2018, stating the tweet harmed him by associating his name with pedophilia.
Musk excused the tweet throughout the very first day of the trial, held today in the United States District Court in Los Angeles, and on Wednesday he restated that “pedo guy” was suggested as an insult, not a declaration of truth, according to CNBC.
Musk included he wasn’t knowledgeable about his exact net worth, however approximated it as being around $20 billion.
On Wednesday, Unsworth affirmed that he took Musk’s tweet actually and felt “humiliated” and “ashamed,” CNN reported. “I’m not sure of how many times it was repeated, but it was essentially my name was being tied to being a pedophile,” Unsworth supposedly stated Wednesday.
During closing arguments Friday, Unsworth’s lawyer supposedly called Musk a “billionaire bully” and recommended the Tesla CEO pay $190 million in damages. “He dropped a nuclear bomb on Vernon Unsworth,” Reuters reported the lawyer arguing.
Attorneys for Musk and Unsworth didn’t react to demands from CNET for remark previously in the week.
As he left court Friday, Musk reportedly said, “my faith in humanity is restored.”
Originally released Dec. 6, 2: 55 p.m. PT.
Update, 5: 08 p.m.: Adds information from CBS News.
