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Diver Who Helped With Thailand Rescue Sues Elon Musk After 'Pedo' Comment

Diver Who Helped With Thailand Rescue Sues Elon Musk After 'Pedo' Comment

The tech billionaire called the diver a 'pedo' and 'child rapist' after he said that Musk's child-sized submarines were a PR stunt

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

Many would hail the divers that helped save a Thai football team trapped in a cave as heroes. But Elon Musk had other ideas when he dubbed one of them a 'pedo'.

Vernon Unsworth, a British diver, said that Musk's building of the underwater kid-sized pods was a 'PR stunt' that had 'absolutely no chance of working'.

And it seemed to ruffle some feathers for the tech billionaire as he hit back calling Mr Unsworth a 'pedo guy' and then a 'child rapist' according to the Independent.

AP have reported that Mr Unsworth alleges that Musk falsely accused him on Twitter of being a paedophile.

Vernon Unsworth.
PA

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court seeks more than $75,000 (£56,900) in damages and a court order stopping Musk from making further allegations.

The case was filed today (Monday), arguing that the businessman had crossed a line by repeatedly insisting that Mr Unsworth is a paedophile and 'child rapist'.

At the time, Mr Unsworth told the Guardian: "I believe he's called me a paedophile. I think people realise what sort of guy [Musk] is."

Mr Unsworth with his wife Woranan Ratrawiphukkun.
PA

This all came about from an interview Mr Unsworth did with CNN where he said: "He can stick his submarine where it hurts.

"He had no conception of what the cave passage was like. The submarine, I believe, was about 5ft 6in long, rigid, so it wouldn't have gone round corners or round any obstacles.

"It wouldn't have made the first 50 metres into the cave from the dive start point. Just a PR stunt."

PA

The Telsa boss hit back in a series of tweets saying that he was producing a video proving that his submarine would have reached the children and in a comment aimed at Unsworth he said: "Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it."

The Guardian have reported that when a Twitter user pointed out that Musk was 'calling the guy who found the children a pedo', the billionaire responded: "Bet ya a signed dollar it's true." Both tweets have since been deleted.

Twitter/@elonmusk

Mr Unsworth, 63, who lives in Thailand, was among the first divers on the scene in Mae Sai after the boys from the Wild Boars football team and their coach became trapped inside on 23 June.

The group of boys were exploring the Tham Luang Nang Non cave and it's thought a freak shower caused them to become trapped in the cave.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: elon musk, World News, News, Thailand, Rescue

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