Elon Musk will face trial in October after a Los Angeles federal court rejected his attempt to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by British diver Vernon Unsworth. The case stems from a Twitter exchange in July 2018, during which Musk called Unsworth a 'pedo' after the diver criticised his efforts to help rescue a youth football team trapped in a Thai cave.
Unsworth, who was involved in the rescue operation, had dismissed Musk's offer of a mini-submarine as a 'PR stunt' in a CNN interview. Musk responded on Twitter, calling him a 'pedo guy' to his 22.5 million followers. The diver is seeking more than $75,000 in damages and a court order barring Musk from making further disparaging comments.
Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that Musk's insult was not protected speech, setting a trial date of 22 October. This is the second legal headache for Musk stemming from his Twitter activity; last year, he and Tesla settled SEC allegations over misleading tweets about taking the company private, paying $40 million in penalties.
