A U.S. jury has concluded that Elon Musk did not defame British diver Vernon Unsworth for referring to him as a “pedo guy” in a tweet.
In the wake of last year’s Thailand cave rescue, Musk hit out at Unsworth online after the diver said the entrepreneur’s presence at the rescue was simply a “PR stunt” and that rescue teams didn’t want him there. Upset by this, Musk said Unsworth was a “pedo guy” and went on to accuse him (inaccurately) of moving to Thailand to marry a 12-year-old child bride.
Unsworth was seeking $190 million in damages from Musk but it reportedly took the jury presiding over the trial just 20 minutes to find him not guilty.
Upon leaving the courtroom, Musk said “My faith in humanity is restored.”
‘I Wasn’t Being Serious’: Elon Musk Defends His ‘Pedo Guy’ Tweet During Trial
A lawyer for Unsworth has said they will look for a re-trial, the New York Post reports. “We all know jurors make mistakes on occasion,” lawyer Mark Stephens told The Mirror. “The jury has given leave and license to allow anyone to make accusations of serious criminality without accountability.”
“I respect the jury’s decision,” said Unsworth. “I’d just like to say my legal team have been absolutely awesome. I came here for a verdict, unfortunately, it’s not gone the way I expected but I respect the jury’s decision and thank them for that.”
During the trial, Musk’s legal team introduced a concept dubbed ‘JDart.’ This acronym describes a Joke that was badly received, soon Deleted, with an Apology and then Responsive Tweets to move on from the matter. A BBC reporter says this concept helped to easily explain to the jury how Musk wasn’t being serious with his allegation.
