Elon Musk, the billionaire, rushed to Twitter late Thursday to refute charges in a news article that he sexually assaulted a flight attendant on a private plane in 2016.
Musk’s SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to settle a sexual harassment allegation from an unnamed private jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her, according to Business Insider.
According to the post, an unidentified source claimed to be a friend of the flight attendant. According to the story, the friend gave a statement as part of the private settlement process.
“I dare this liar who says a friend witnessed me being ‘exposed’ to explain just one item, anything at all (scars, tattoos, etc.) that isn’t widely known. She won’t be able to because it never took place “Musk sent out a tweet.
The Business Insider account could not be verified by reporters. Musk and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment from reporters either the Business Insider piece or Musk’s tweets.
According to a friend of the flight attendant, Musk stroked the flight attendant’s thigh and promised to buy her a horse if she would “do more” during an in-flight massage, in addition to allegedly exposing himself.
According to Business Insider, the flight attendant became convinced that her rejection to accept Musk’s invitation had harmed her chances of working at SpaceX, prompting her to consult a lawyer in 2018.
According to Business Insider, the rocket firm reached an out-of-court settlement that included a nondisclosure agreement that banned the flight attendant from discussing it. The companion and flight attendant were not identified by the news outlet.
Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla Inc and is in the midst of a heated bid to buy Twitter Inc, announced on Wednesday that he will vote Republican rather than Democrat, fearing a “dirty tricks campaign against me.”
Musk was described in the Business Insider article as saying that the flight attendant’s story was a “politically motivated hit piece” with “a lot more to this tale.”
“The assaults on me should be regarded through a political lens – this is their regular (despicable) script – but nothing will dissuade me from fighting for a good future and your freedom to free speech,” Musk tweeted on Thursday evening. He did not expressly cite the claims in the Business Insider report in his first tweet.
“And, for the record,” Musk said in another tweet, “those outlandish charges are totally incorrect.”
He also claimed that the piece was written to derail Twitter’s takeover.
