Elon Musk is threatening legal action against documentarian Alex Gibney over a new film that insinuates Musk used his Starlink satellite service to influence the 2024 election in favor of former President Donald Trump.
In a letter to Jigsaw Productions, the company behind the film titled "Musk," Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, asserted that the documentary's suggestions of election interference are defamatory and false. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
Spiro specifically addressed claims stemming from interviews within the documentary. Ashley St. Clair, an ex-partner of Musk, is quoted in the film stating that Musk told her before the election he was going to "unleash the 'anomaly in the matrix'" and that he "has ten thousand lasers in space." When asked by Gibney if she believed Musk was referring to Starlink, she responded, "I mean, I don’t know where else he has space lasers."
Spiro countered these assertions, emphasizing that Starlink was not connected to vote tabulation and that election officials and cybersecurity researchers publicly debunked similar claims in November 2024. He explained that "lasers in space" refers to Starlink's inter-satellite laser communication links. According to Spiro, Gibney declined to include information refuting these claims, despite offers from Musk's representatives and others with firsthand knowledge.
The documentary, described as a "definitive and unvarnished examination" of Musk, is set to be released in theaters in October. Spiro pointed to Gibney's past statements, including his acceptance of an award where he called objectivity a "folly" and stated a belief that powerful people tend to lie more readily, as evidence of the director's non-neutral approach.