There were few doubts that Elon Musk’s reaction to Alex Gibney’s Musk, the documentary shown out of competition at the Venice Film Festival a few days ago, would not come soon enough—especially after the remarks from his ex, Ashley St. Clair, who stated she had received (and rejected) a colossal cash offer not to participate in the film. We don’t think it needs much prompting to say that Elon did not use a diplomatic tone to dismantle the entire operation… but we are certain Gibney and his team had fully anticipated it.
[Photo of Elon Musk courtesy of Gage Skidmore, from Wikimedia Commons]
Musk, Elon Musk’s furious reaction to the documentary shown in Venice
“Hit piece” could be the best translation of the expression “sassaiola in malafede,” with which Elon Musk attacked the lengthy documentary about him, Musk by Alex Gibney. He had already done so when the project was announced in 2023, but now he doubles down: “A shot that misses the mark, and commits the mortal sin of being four hours long and boring.” In other posts on X, the billionaire entrepreneur added, commenting on a video from the director’s press conference: “Dog shit is more worthy of respect. […] He has assembled a list of people who have axes to grind or who don’t even know me (but they still have axes to grind). He has no integrity, a horrible human being.” The subject reportedly said he had tried to interview Elon Musk himself, in order to have him participate in the documentary, receiving a rejection, and replacing him with an AI-generated replica to get him to recite phrases the magnate has actually spoken in various circumstances. Musk, for his part, also directed his ire at Ashley St. Clair, mother of his thirteenth child, who claimed in a TMZ interview that she had refused 40 million dollars from her entourage to avoid taking part in the film: “They were never offered to her, and she is known for her false statements.”
One is left to wonder whether the furor stirred up by Musk will settle well before the U.S. release of the feature film, scheduled for October 16, or if the work will stay in the spotlight until its distribution.
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