by Rob McLean and Jackie Wattles | CNN
Elon Musk denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a SpaceX flight attendant in a series of tweets late in 2016.
“I have a challenge to this liar who claims that his friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe only one thing, anything (scars, tattoos, …) that is not known by the public. Because it never happened,” Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted early Friday morning.
The tweet comes after Business Insider reported that SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 after a SpaceX flight attendant made sexual misconduct allegations against the billionaire.
Nicholas Carlson, editor-in-chief of Business Insider’s original publication, Insider, responded to Musk’s denial on Twitter.
“We stand by our story, which is based on documents and interviews and speaks for itself,” a tweeted statement said. reads,
Business Insider, citing documents and interviews, reported that “the attendant worked as a member of the cabin crew on a contract basis for SpaceX’s corporate jet fleet. She accused Musk of exposing his straight penis to her, without consent.” of rubbing her feet and offering to buy her a horse in exchange for a sensual massage.
In his request to Insider for more time to respond to the allegations, Musk said that “there’s more to this story.”
“If I was inclined to engage in sexual harassment, it’s not likely to come to light for the first time in my entire 30-year career,” he told Business Insider. The outlet also said that Musk portrayed the story as a “politically inspired hit piece”.
In separate tweets, Musk later denied that he ever responded to Business Insider when he was reporting the story and attempted to link the article to his Thursday announcement that he would “vote for Republicans” and His attempt to acquire Twitter – a deal he recently put “on hold.”
“Did you actually reply to the BI reporters?” a user tweeted In Musk.
“No,” Moscow reacted“It was clear that his only target was Hit Price (sic) to interfere with the Twitter takeover. The story was written before he could even talk to me.”
“As soon as the Twitter acquisition was announced, they started all kinds of attacks,” Musk said in a separate statement. Tweet, “In my 30-year career, including the entire MeToo era, there is nothing to report, but, as soon as I say I want to restore freedom of speech on Twitter and vote Republican, suddenly there is.”
But according to Insider’s investigative editor, John Cook, the publication reached out to Musk about the story in question before tweeting about voting Republican.
“For those interested, we reached out to the principals at 9 a.m. yesterday (Wednesday May 18) for comment about this story,” Cook said. Twitter,
Musk tweeted announcing his intention to vote Wednesday at 2:44 p.m. ET,
The Business Insider article said 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.
