Diver who helped with Thai cave rescue sues Elon Musk

A British diver who helped rescue youth soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand is suing Elon Musk, alleging that the Tesla CEO falsely accused him of being a pedophile.

Diver Vernon Unsworth, who lives north of London, contends that Musk made the false allegation on Twitter and then repeated multiple other falsehoods after the dramatic rescue of a dozen youth soccer players and their coach in July.

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court Monday seeks more than $75,000 in damages and a court order stopping Musk from making further allegations. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk called Unsworth a "pedo" in a tweet to his 22.5 million followers after Unsworth criticized Musk in a July 13 television interview with CNN about the rescue.

Musk and engineers from his rocket company, SpaceX, built a small submarine and shipped it to Thailand to help with the rescue. The device wasn't used and in the interview, Unsworth called it a "PR stunt" and said it wouldn't have worked to free the boys who were trapped in the flooded cave.

He also said Musk "can stick his submarine somewhere where it hurts."
Unsworth will not do interviews, Wood said, but the attorney said in a statement that Musk's wealth "cannot convert his lies into truth or protect him from accountability for his wrongdoing in a court of law." Unsworth's British lawyer, Mark Stephens, said that "Twibels (Twitter libels) show that falsehoods by the rich and powerful can circulate round the globe to their 22.5 million followers and to the media before the truth can pull its boots on."