Musk testimony opens defamation trial over his ‘pedo guy’ tweet

LOS ANGELES -- Kicking off the first day of a defamation trial brought by a cave diver he labeled "pedo guy," Tesla CEO Elon Musk testified Tuesday you can't believe everything you read on Twitter.

Compared to the combative tone he took in the midst of a heated Twitter feud with plaintiff Vernon Unsworth, Musk was soft-spoken and polite as he explained the sequence of events that prompted the case. Musk told the federal jury he was repeatedly contacted by third parties in the midst of the efforts to rescue a team of young soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018, each seeking his aid or advice on the situation.

Musk's plan involved a small submersible device he called a "mini-sub," which was no more than 5 or 6 feet long, which he theorized could be used to extract the children from the winding cave system one at a time. With one rescuer having already died in the course of rescue attempts, Musk said the situation was urgent. His attorneys have previously argued Musk's comments were made in duress as a result of the stressful situation.

The "pedo guy" label is a common insult in Musk's native South Africa roughly equivalent to calling someone a "creepy old man," argued Musk's counsel, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro, in his opening argument. He said it was a "joking, taunting tweet" sent during an "exchange between men."

Or, as Spiro called it, a "JDART" -- a "joking, deleted, apologized for tweet."

The trial moved at a brisk pace since opening Tuesday morning in U.S. Judge Stephen V. Wilson's courtroom. A jury was selected not long before the noon break. Questions for the jury were largely directed at outing potential biases against billionaires and any pre-conceived notions about visitors to Thailand.

The last juror to be selected, after the defense used its three peremptory challenges, was an immigration attorney who has visited Thailand, who said he had both "positive and negative" thoughts on Musk. Vernon Unsworth v. Elon Musk 18-cv-08048 (C.D. Cal. filed Sept. 28, 2018).

Under cross-examination from Atlanta-based litigator L. Lin Wood, Musk discussed his initial reaction to inciting comments made by Unsworth about the proposed submersible in an interview with CNN International. In the interview, Unsworth said Musk could "stick the submarine where it hurts," which Musk repeatedly referenced as an "unprovoked attack."

On the stand, he further challenged comments made by Unsworth during the interview, notably Unsworth's claim Musk had been asked to leave by Thai officials. Musk called the comment a "flat-out lie," adding he was well received by officials leading the rescue.

"It was wrong and insulting," Musk said. "So I insulted him back."

The trial continues Wednesday.