New Delhi: Elon Musk’s former partner Ashley St Clair said Tuesday that she rejected a $40 million offer to sign a non-disclosure agreement and remain silent about their relationship.
She was speaking at a press conference ahead of the world premiere of Alex Gibney’s documentary Musk at the Venice Film Festival.
“I was offered the opportunity not to speak for $40 million,” St Clair said.
The proposed agreement, she said, included a $40-million lump sum and monthly payments of $100,000. The offer was withdrawn after she refused to sign it.
At the press conference, St Clair was asked whether Musk feared a civil war or was trying to provoke one through X.
“Whatever it is, what he’s doing with this platform on X cannot be ignored, because he is stoking flames that don’t exist in the real world. He is creating something that is causing real-world effects with all of these inputs on X. I do believe that he is causing deliberate division that may be catastrophic if it’s not regulated or tamed, or if we don’t do our part in putting it down,” she said.
AI replica of Musk
Musk did not agree to be interviewed for the documentary. In his absence, the film uses an AI-generated version of him to recreate an interview from statements he has made publicly over the years. Gibney said the filmmakers consulted lawyers before using it.
The filmmaker also spoke about the difficulty of finding people willing to go on record about Musk.
“There was a tremendous sense of fear of talking, really almost existential fear, both among people who were his critics, people who were his business colleagues and people who are his friends,” Gibney said. “I talked to many, many, many, many people who, except for some of the brave people who are here, declined to speak.”
Gibney called Musk “extremely” dangerous to democracy and said he was pursuing a “global right-wing agenda” for ideological and financial reasons.
St Clair said Musk’s “most complicated relationship is with the truth”. She is also the person who says “Elon is a nuke” at the end of the documentary’s teaser.
Musk has dismissed the documentary as a “hit piece” and accused Gibney of bias. The film will open in US cinemas on 16 October. An India release date has not been announced.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
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