Elon Musk has once more attacked a British diver he has previously accused without proof of being a child abuser.
In an e-mail to a reporter, Mr Musk stated Vernon Unsworth – who assisted with the rescue of 12 Thai teenagers from a flooded cave – was a “child rapist”.
Mr Unsworth’s legal professional stated the allegation was “totally fake”.
Mr Musk had earlier apologised for calling Mr Unsworth a “pedo”. The pair first clashed over Mr Musk’s offer of a mini-submarine to assist with the rescue.
The Briton had instructed CNN that the submarine used to be “just a PR stunt that had absolutely no likelihood of operating”. The Tesla founder answered with a series of tweets accusing Mr Unsworth of paedophilia with out offering any proof.
Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Unsworth, in orange, supplied knowledge for the rescue
what is Unsworth’s reaction?
Mr Unsworth’s legal professional Mark Kennedy from the company Howard Kennedy told the BBC that Mr Musk’s allegations had been baseless.
“Simply as we get a chain of legal court cases drafted, Mr Musk adds another libel to it,” he said.
“He turns out to have a reckless indifference concerning the truth of those things. there’s not a shred or scintilla of evidence to back it up.
“Vernon Unsworth is in so much people’s minds a hero. he is now not a paedophile as is alleged. We really feel very strongly that the document need to be placed directly.”
“this is all about being disillusioned that – as considered one of the divers, not my shopper, placed it – Musk’s shiny tube wasn’t used,” he added.
Mr Kennedy showed that Mr Unsworth was once in a dating with Woranan Ratrawiphukkun, a Thai girl who advised Buzzfeed she used to be FORTY and were in a courting with Mr Unsworth for seven years.
The couple had met in London, the place Mr Unsworth lives, and the relationship had persisted even as Mr Unsworth was once in Thailand exploring the Tham Luang cave advanced, Mr Kennedy said.
What different allegations does Musk make?
In his email, Mr Musk also mentioned that Mr Unsworth had now not been part of the cave dive rescue workforce and have been shunned by way of its members.
Mr Unsworth did not participate in the dives but had up to now explored the cave complex widely. He knew in regards to the raised ledge referred to as Pattaya Beach where the men and their soccer instruct may have sought shelter and called within the two professional British divers who in the end discovered the trapped children.
Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption The Tesla founder additionally mentioned Mr Unsworth were kept away from by means of different rescue divers
Mr Musk additionally despatched a duplicate of a letter from the Thai government thanking him for his offer of assistance and denied that he had been requested by the Thai govt to leave the cave advanced during the rescue operation – an assertion he alleged Mr Unsworth had made during his CNN interview.
in the interview, Mr Unsworth mentioned Mr Musk have been asked to depart the cave complicated in the course of the rescue operation however did not say through whom.
Mr Kennedy mentioned Mr Musk had not to begin with asked for or been given surveys of the cave device while providing the use of a mini-submarine and it could not have geared up throughout the areas to be had within the cave besides. Mr Musk handiest arrived on the cave complex while 8 of the men had already been rescued, Mr Kennedy said.
Does Musk ‘attract drama’?
the newest controversy follows weeks of erratic behaviour on social media.
In July he stunned buyers by way of announcing on Twitter that he had investment secured to take his automobile company Tesla non-public. He later stated the firm may keep public.
He also tweeted that he suffered from “great highs, bad lows and unrelenting stress”. He also tweeted that he might be afflicted by bipolar dysfunction but then mentioned “maybe now not medically”.
In August he advised the brand new York Times that he worked “ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-hour weeks” and took sedatives.
His brother Kimbal Musk told the newspaper that the reason Mr Musk “turns out to draw drama” is as a result of he is “so clear, so open, in a way that may come back to bite him”.