Elon Musk's Ex Spills Secrets in Lacerating 'Musk' Documentary!

Alex Gibney's new documentary, 'Musk,' offers an in-depth exploration of the controversial billionaire Elon Musk, aiming to deconstruct the image of a 'visionary genius' and present him as a '21st-century reincarnation of a confidence man.' A significant aspect of the film is the participation of Ashley St. Clair, Elon Musk’s ex and mother of his 13th child. St. Clair notably rejected a $40 million non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to speak in the documentary, explaining her decision was to 'set the example for my kids that we should never take being materially comfortable that we’re speaking the truth.' During a Venice Film Festival press conference, St. Clair also expressed regret for her past involvement in right-wing political commentary, attributing it to her youth and confidants at the time, stating, 'that ignorance does not excuse any role in that. I hope the risk that I’m taking now in speaking out and trying to fight back at least helps a little bit.'

Gibney, an Oscar-winning documentarian known for investigating figures and institutions from corrupt corporations to the Catholic Church, began working on the film in 2023. He encountered a 'tremendous sense of fear of talking' among Musk's critics, colleagues, and friends, with many declining to speak. Musk himself declined to be interviewed and preemptively called the film a 'hit piece.' The nearly four-hour documentary, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, is positioned to reframe public understanding of Musk, arguing that 'even his most heralded accomplishments are rife with illusion and misdirection.' Gibney characterized Musk as a 'very dangerous' man, expressing deep concern over his apparent unwillingness to show concern for others. Both Gibney and St. Clair highlight Musk's profound struggle with empathy, with Gibney stating he has 'a very difficult time with empathy, especially cognitive empathy,' and St. Clair asserting, 'He makes a conscious choice to not put himself on other people’s shoes. It is a deliberate rejection of empathy.'

The documentary delves into numerous controversial aspects of Musk's career, notably his ambitious but flawed pursuit of self-driving car technology. It details how Tesla released its Autopilot driver-assist system in 2015 and the Full Self-Driving Beta program in 2020, marketing these technologies with ads that allegedly exaggerated the car’s capabilities. This haste and over-promising led to tragic consequences, with more than 60 fatalities linked to Tesla’s driver-assistance systems. The film suggests that Musk largely succeeded in quashing lawsuits, federal investigations, and reports of fatal crashes, which, according to the documentary, were evidence of a recklessness that should have prompted global concern.

Further illuminating Musk's personal life, the documentary explores his beliefs on procreation and family. Musk has fathered at least 14 children, reportedly believing his progeny contribute to a 'larger war against population decline.' The film, with a highly illuminating interview from Ashley St. Clair, details how Musk, apart from his two spouses, allegedly targeted young women he considered suitable 'breeders,' would impregnate them, and then lose interest after the babies were born. These women were reportedly required to sign non-disclosure agreements.

The documentary also touches upon allegations of Musk's drug use, including ketamine, Ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms. It chronicles his transformation from a 'skinny and unthreatening' tech geek at his first company, Zip2, in the mid-1990s, to a more assertive and ambitious figure driven by Ayn Rand's philosophies. His physical and public persona evolved alongside his growing megalomania and grandiose visions, making himself over into his version of a 'tech-head Nietzschean superman.'

Musk’s early career was defined by three core obsessions: the Internet, energy, and space exploration. The film recounts his attempts to purchase old Russian ICBM rockets for SpaceX and credits him with leading the privatization of space exploration, thereby rekindling public excitement in a field where government enthusiasm had waned. Despite early spectacular failures, with his first three launches not connecting, Musk persevered, narrowly avoiding bankruptcy with a successful fourth launch. He saw himself as an 'engineer-magician' akin to Steve Jobs, driving innovation in space.

However, the film posits that a 'semi-scandal' of Musk’s career was his alleged takeover of Tesla, a company co-founded by Martin Eberhard in 2003. The documentary claims Musk effectively erased Eberhard from the company's narrative, portraying himself as the sole visionary, the 'Henry Ford' of the electric-vehicle revolution. His marketing genius presented Tesla cars as cutting-edge tech gadgets on wheels, but this often relied on 'smoke and mirrors.' An example cited is the 'Tesla battery fraud,' where advertisements suggested easy battery swaps, when in reality, a Tesla battery weighed 1,000 pounds. The film asserts that what Musk sold was often 'pure fiction,' and when customers faced problems, he allegedly established a 'boiler room full of scammers' to lie about repairs, effectively 'gaslighting his customers.' This pattern of gaslighting is also detailed in his relationship with his first wife, Justine Wilson, after the SIDS-related death of their first child.

The documentary critically examines Musk’s ardent belief in simulation theory, the notion that reality itself might be a giant simulation, a concept bolstered by his love for sophisticated video games. While not dwelling extensively on this idea, the film uses it to argue that someone who truly believes 'fruitiest fantasies are reality' may not be entirely rational. It suggests that Musk’s brilliance, paradoxically, leads him to invest in these fantastical ideas, such as colonizing Mars, which the film states had no truth to it. The documentary highlights a pattern where Musk, like his 'future frenemy Donald Trump,' began to believe he could create his own reality, promising more than he delivered.

The film further scrutinizes Musk's more recent ventures, including his acquisition and rebranding of Twitter as X. This move is presented as a 'lesson in atrocious management,' which he paradoxically 'camouflaged as a testament to free speech.' The documentary contends that he applied this experience, 'as if it were a positive prototype,' to his engagement with government under Trump, seeking to make destruction appear 'cool.' The film suggests that his ventures increasingly serve little more than 'Elon’s simulated glory.' His use of Starlink satellite technology to influence the war in Ukraine and his collaboration with Trump as a mega-donor, in part to quash federal investigations into the Tesla Auto-Drive fraud, are also discussed. The documentary concludes that Musk demonstrates how 'tech fascism doesn’t need to be a form of government; it can do an end run around government to control people’s lives by reducing them to cogs.' The ultimate fear, according to 'Musk,' is how he 'coddles his own interests by passing them off as the world’s,' portraying him as a 'genuine if flawed technocratic visionary, a messianic opportunist, and something of a crackpot' who, since his cameo in 'Iron Man 2,' seems to envision himself as a real-life Tony Stark.