Elon Musk, who seems to favor Twitter lately as his preferred medium for communicating with the public, apologized on Wednesday for calling the diver who helped locate the 12 boys and their coach in a Thailand cave a “pedo.”
In a couple of tweets, Musk (after praising a Quora article about him as “well-written”) said his comment was made “in anger” after the diver, Vern Unsworth, suggested that Musk “engage in a sexual act” with the submarine that Musk created for the rescue—a device which no one asked for and ultimately wasn’t used in the rescue. Unsworth said in an interview that Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts.”
As this well-written article suggests, my words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2018
Musk went on to say that “his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone.”
Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2018
The apology comes days after Unsworth said he was pondering a lawsuit against Musk for the now-deleted “pedo” tweet. (Screengrab below.)
Musk’s apology, as many people have pointed out, doesn’t feel that substantial. He called Unsworth a pedophile, which seems to purport that the diver was in Thailand for child trafficking. And he’s apologizing probably because of the backlash for his comment. He justifies the “pedo” comment because Unsworth said something negative about his submarine first. Very mature!
Unsworth hasn’t said whether or not he will still pursue the lawsuit against Musk. He told Reuters that he was aware of Musk’s apology but did not offer any more comments.
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