It Looks Like Elon Musk’s Rant About ‘Political Attacks’ From the Left Was an Attempt To Get Ahead of Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Earlier this week, Elon Musk announced to the world that he was choosing to identify as a Republican and that he would vote for Republicans moving forward. This surprised exactly no one, nor did Musk’s claims that Democrats are going to unleash a “dirty tricks campaign” against him and that “Political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months.”

There were a lot of theories for why Musk might have made these declarations, totally unprovoked, and they were all obvious enough to not require any further speculation. Tesla had just been dropped from the S&P’s list of “socially conscious” companies (the ESG) due to its “lack of a low-carbon strategy” as well as all the lawsuits and complaints over racist and otherwise unacceptable working conditions. With Musk’s takeover of Twitter (possibly) moving ahead, he might also be looking to fend off legitimate attempts at government oversight by casting them as “political attacks.” Musk, a known union-buster, has also accused the Democratic party of being “overly controlled by unions.”

As it turns out, the real reason for Musk’s unprompted declarations of Republican allegiance and “dirty tricks” seems to be even more obvious than all of that: He’s a giant creep. (Allegedly.)

According to a report From Business Insider released Thursday, SpaceX allegedly paid a flight attendant $250,000 to keep quiet after she says Musk exposed himself to her and otherwise sexually harassed her in 2016.

“The attendant worked as a member of the cabin crew on a contract basis for SpaceX’s corporate jet fleet,” the report reads. “She accused Musk of exposing his erect penis to her, rubbing her leg without consent, and offering to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage, according to interviews and documents obtained by Insider.”

The report goes on to say:

According to the declaration, the attendant confided to the friend that after taking the flight attendant job, she was encouraged to get licensed as a masseuse so that she could give Musk massages. It was during one such massage in a private cabin on Musk’s Gulfstream G650ER, she told the friend, that Musk propositioned her.

I cannot get over the excessively gross (and therefore right on brand for Musk) fact that this man expects his flight attendants to also act as his personal masseuse.

The report continues:

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.

The timing of Musk’s declarations of Republicanhood just happen to align perfectly with when Business Insider says they reached out for comment for the impending article. What a fascinating coincidence.

The only thing less surprising than Elon Musk declaring he’s a Republican is knowing that he made that declaration as a way to fight credible allegations of sexual predation.

(image: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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