You know how Elon Musk is too broke-ass to keep Tesla, SpaceX and buy Twitter? You know how Musk is doing the most to tank Twitter’s stock price in an attempt to wriggle out of his proposed purchase? You know how he’s been throwing hissy fits about “social justice warriors” and the Democrats’ “dirty tricks”? You know how he claimed that “Political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months”? Well, he tweeted that knowing full well that this story was about to break. In fact, I think this story – and the dozens of similar stories which are likely out there – is why Musk didn’t want to be on Twitter’s board in the first place. It’s because he knew he couldn’t pass a background check, and as soon as anyone started digging, they’d find a bunch of sh-t. What kind of sh-t? Elon Musk sexually harassed and abused a SpaceX flight attendant and SpaceX paid the woman a $250K settlement. The incident took place in 2016, on a SpaceX plane, in a private cabin used by executives.
The harassment: The flight attendant told her friend that the billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder asked her to come to his room during a flight in late 2016 “for a full body massage,” the declaration says. When she arrived, the attendant found that Musk “was completely naked except for a sheet covering the lower half of his body.” During the massage, the declaration says, Musk “exposed his genitals” and then “touched her and offered to buy her a horse if she would ‘do more,’ referring to the performance of sex acts.” The attendant, who rides horses, declined and continued with the massage without engaging in any sexual conduct. The attendant “is not for sale,” the friend’s declaration said. “She is not going to perform sexual favors for money or gifts.” The incident occurred during a flight to London.
After she refused, she was punished at work: “She figured things could just go back to normal and she would pretend like nothing happened,” the friend told Insider. “However, she started to feel as if she was receiving some sort of retaliation where her shifts were cut back, and she was starting to feel really stressed.” Eventually, the declaration says, the attendant felt “she was being pushed out and punished for refusing to prostitute herself.”
The settlement: In 2018, after becoming convinced that her refusal to accept Musk’s proposal had diminished her opportunities at SpaceX, the attendant hired a California employment lawyer and sent a complaint to the company’s human resources department detailing the episode. Around that time, the attorney’s firm contacted the friend and asked her to prepare the declaration corroborating the claims. The attendant’s complaint was resolved quickly after a session with a mediator that Musk personally attended. The matter never reached a court of law or an arbitration proceeding. In November 2018, Musk, SpaceX and the flight attendant entered into a severance agreement granting the attendant a $250,000 payment in exchange for a promise not to sue over the claims.
Musk’s response: After Insider contacted Musk for comment, he emailed to ask for more time to respond and said there is “a lot more to this story.” “If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light,” he wrote, calling the story a “politically motivated hit piece.” Insider extended the deadline and reiterated the offer to Musk to comment on the claims. He did not respond.
[From Business Insider]
Musk “touched her and offered to buy her a horse if she would ‘do more.’” I cannot. Imagine asking your female employee to prostitute herself FOR A HORSE. And then punishing her for saying no. This is so disgusting, and SpaceX and Musk totally got away with low-balling her in the settlement. She should have gotten $500K or more, especially since SpaceX also got her to sign a non-disclosure agreement too. SpaceX wasn’t merely paying off an executive’s victim after he molested her and harassed her, the company was paying for her silence. How many more victims are out there?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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