Musk threatens legal action over documentary

Elon Musk's legal team sent a formal notice to the creators of a new four-hour documentary about the tech mogul, accusing the film of defaming Elon Musk. The letter, written by attorney Alex Spiro and addressed to a producer at Jigsaw Productions, states that the documentary was created with a predetermined conclusion in mind. It also alleges that the documentary's director, Alex Gibney, refused to fact-check the film with Musk or his close associates.

The documentary, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, traces Musk's career and personal life from his dot-com days in Silicon Valley to becoming the world's first trillionaire. Critics have described the film as "lacerating" and "damning," calling Musk "petty, narcissistic, megalomaniacal, cruel." The letter not only serves notice to Gibney and Jigsaw Productions but also to other parties involved in the film's distribution, including HBO, Bleecker Street, and Universal.

The letter specifically addresses a sequence that Spiro claims advances a conspiracy theory: that Musk knew early on election night 2024 that Donald Trump had won due to his use of Starlink satellites. Jigsaw Productions responded to the allegations, stating that scrutiny of powerful public figures is protected by the First Amendment.

This comes as no surprise to Gibney, whose documentaries have often explored powerful groups, including the Church of Scientology, Enron Corporation, and the Israel-Iran spy wars in Zero Days.