Elon Musk Denies Sexual Harassment Claims

“I have a challenge for this liar who claims that their friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe only one thing, everything (scars, tattoos, …) that is not known to the public. She will not be able to to do this because it never happened,” said the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted early Friday morning.

The tweet comes after Business Insider reported that SpaceX paid a $250,000 settlement in 2018 after a SpaceX flight attendant alleged sexual misconduct against the billionaire.

Nicholas Carlson, the editor-in-chief of Insider, Business Insider’s parent publication, took to Twitter to respond to Musk’s denial.

“We stand by our story, which is based on documents and interviews and is self-explanatory,” a tweet reads is reading†

Citing documents and interviews it conducted, Business Insider reported that “the contract attendant worked as a cabin crew member for SpaceX’s corporate jet fleet. She accused Musk of exposing his erect penis to her, rubbing her leg without consent, and offer to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage.”

In his request to Insider for more time to respond to the allegations, Musk said there was “a lot more to this story.”

“If I was prone to sexual harassment, it probably won’t be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it’s come to light,” he told Business Insider. The outlet also said Musk characterized the story as a “politically motivated hit piece.”

In separate tweets, Musk later denied ever responding to Business Insider as they reported the story, trying to link the article to his Thursday announcement that he will “vote Republican” and his bid to acquire Twitter — a deal he recently made. “on hold.”

“Did you actually respond to the BI reporters?” an user tweeted at Musk.

“No”, Musk responded“Obviously their only goal was a hit price (sic) to disrupt Twitter acquisition. The story was written before they even talked to me.”

“They started brewing all kinds of attacks as soon as the Twitter acquisition was announced,” Musk added in a separate post. tweet† “In my 30-year career, including the entire MeToo era, there’s nothing to report, but as soon as I say I intend to restore free speech on Twitter and vote Republican, suddenly something happens.”

But the publication reached out to Musk about the story in question before he tweeted about voting Republican, according to John Cook, the investigative editor at Insider.

“For those interested, we reached out to the directors yesterday (Wednesday, May 18) at 9 a.m. Eastern for comment on this story,” Cook said on Twitter†

Musk’s tweet announcing his voting intentions was posted at: 2:44 PM ET on Wednesday†

The Business Insider article states that it “extended the deadline and reiterated the offer to Musk to comment on the claims. He did not respond.”

SpaceX did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

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