Vernon Unsworth, the British cave explorer who was labelled a paedophile by Elon Musk after assisting in the rescue of twelve children trapped in a Thai cave, appears to have begun legal action against the Tesla CEO.
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Here’s a quick recap of what lead to this point: After news broke in July that twelve boys and their soccer coach were trapped inside the flooded Tham Luang cave, Musk directed his employees to create a miniature submarine to aid in the rescue operation.
But seasoned cave divers who had already plotted the extrication of the children dismissed the submarine as impractical and ill-suited to the narrow, winding channels inside the cave.
Unsworth, who was enlisted to help with the rescue, had a particularly dim view of Musk’s plan. Speaking to CNN after the successful mission, the 63-year-old said Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts,” and called it nothing more than “a PR stunt.”
Musk didn’t take kindly to that statement, and retaliated with now-deleted tweets insisting Unsworth is a paedophile. He later apologised for those tweets, saying they were issued in anger, but he reignited his claims last night.
In a new tweet, Musk asked a Twitter user “You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me?”
L.Lin Wood, a U.S. trial lawyer, replied to that comment with a letter dated August 6. It appears to show that Unsworth has retained Wood’s services, and is actually preparing a civil complaint for libel.
@elonmusk should check his mail before tweeting. pic.twitter.com/3c9QWtdp25
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) August 29, 2018
In a statement to Sky News after Musk’s latest tweets, Unsworth said “It’s all being dealt with, that’s all I can say.”
The potential legal action caps off a tumultuous month for the entrepreneur, whose tweets have kicked off a federal investigation into his business dealings, and who also appears to have invoked the wrath of rapper Azealia Banks.
Wild times.
