Space X CEO Elon Musk takes part in a postlaunch press conference inside the Press Site auditorium at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020, following the launch of the firm’s Space X Demo -2 objective to the International Space Station.
NASA/Kim Shiflett
Space X creator Elon Musk stated in a tweet late Thursday that “wild accusations” versus him are not real.
He did not discuss what those allegations were. But his reaction followed a Business Insider report on Thursday stated the aerospace business had actually paid $250,000 in severance to a flight attendant who implicated the billionaire of sexual misbehavior.
The report, which mentioned interviews and files gotten by Insider, stated the lady declared that throughout a massage she was offering Musk he exposed his erect penis, touched her thigh without her permission and used to purchase her a horse if she carried out sex acts. CNBC might not individually validate those accusations.
Musk, without referring straight to the report, tweeted that “for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue.”
“The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook,” he tweeted.
Insider reported that the supposed event took place in Musk’s space aboard a Space X jet on a flight to London in late 2016, after the world’s wealthiest individual asked her to provide him a “full body massage.”
CNBC connected to Musk and Space X for talk about those accusations however did not right away hear back.
Musk informed Insider there was “a lot more to this story” as he asked the publication for more time to react to the short article’s claims, according to the outlet.
“If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light,” Musk apparently composedInsider He likewise stated its short article was a “politically motivated hit piece,” the outlet reported.
Insider reported that it moved the publication due date after Musk asked for more time to react, however that he never ever made additional talk about the accusations.
Space X legal affairs vice president Christopher Cardaci was priced quote by Insider as stating, “I’m not going to comment on any settlement agreements.”
The Insider report comes as the Tesla chief Musk is participated in an effort to buy social networks giant Twitter.
The accusations reported Thursday are detailed in a statement signed by a pal of the flight attendant.
That statement was made to support a grievance that the lady’s attorney had actually made to Space X’s personnels department in 2018 after she felt that her work chances at the business decreased after she decreased to participate in sexual contact with Musk, according to Insider.
Neither the good friend, who talked to Insider, nor the lady, who decreased to be talked to by the publication, was recognized by name in the short article. The flight attendant signed a non-disclosure arrangement as part of her settlement with Space X, according to the report.
Insider reported that the good friend stated the flight attendant informed her the story about Musk quickly after it occurred.
And the outlet reported that the good friend stated she chose to expose the lady’s accusation without very first asking the flight attendant due to the fact that she felt required as a survivor of sexual attack to divulge the claim versus Musk.
Insider reported that the flight attendant’s grievance to Space X’s HR department was “resolved quickly after a session with a mediator that Musk personally attended.”
The news outlet stated Musk, Space X and the flight attendant in November 2018 participated in an arrangement to have the lady paid $250,000 in severance in exchange for assuring not to submit a claim linked to her claims.
Read the complete Insider report here.
— CNBC’s Weizhen Tan and Michael Sheetz added to this report.
