\n \n \n “. concat(self. i18n. t(‘search. voice. recognition_retry’), “\n
A SpaceX flight attendant said Elon Musk asked her to “do more” of a massage, according to the documents.
The billionaire founder showed him his penis and showed up to buy him a horse, he said in a statement.
After reporting the incident to SpaceX, Musk’s company paid him $250,000 as part of a severance agreement.
SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, paid $250,000 to a flight attendant to settle a sexual misconduct allegation against Musk in 2018, Insider has learned.
The assistant worked as a member of the cockpit team on a contractual basis for SpaceX’s fleet of commercial aircraft. He accused Musk of exposing his erect penis, rubbing his leg with his consent and providing him with a horse in exchange for an erotic massage, according to interviews and documents received through Insider.
The incident, which occurred in 2016, is alleged in a document signed by a friend of the employee and written in aid of her application. Details of this story are taken from and other documents, adding email correspondence and other recordings shared with Insider. through the friend.
According to the statement, the hostess told the friend that after taking the hostess position, she was encouraged to get a massage therapist license so she could give Musk’s massages. It was one of the massages in a personal cabin on Musk’s Gulfstream G650ER. , she told the friend, that Musk made her a proposal.
After Insider contacted Musk for comment, he sent an email asking for more time to respond and said there was “a lot more to this story. “
“If I were susceptible to having an interaction in sexual harassment, it would be the first time in my entire 30-year career that this has come to light,” he wrote, calling the story a “politically motivated goodwill movement. “”
Insider extended the deadline and reiterated the offer to Musk to comment on the claims. He answered.
Contacted via cell phone, SpaceX legal vice president Christopher Cardaci said, “I will comment on the agreements in the agreement. “SpaceX responded to requests for comment at its general media contact email address.
The flight attendant told her friend that billionaire SpaceX and Tesla discoverer asked her to come to her room on an expired flight in 2016 “for a full-body massage,” she said. Upon arrival, the flight attendant discovered that Musk “was absolutely naked. “, unless a sheet covered his lower body. “During the massage, according to Array Musk, he “exposed his genitals” and then “touched her and showed up to buy her a horse if she did ‘more’, referring to acting sexually. facts. “
The assistant, who rides a horse, refused and continued with the massage without engaging in any sexual conduct. The assistant “is not for sale,” the friend said. She’s not going to do sexual favors in exchange for cash or gifts. “The incident occurred on a flight to London.
In an interview with Insider, the friend described the flight attendant’s allegations in more detail. He spoke on condition of anonymity, raising fears for his private safety, but Insider knows his identity. Insider also knows the identity of the flight attendant, but calls her because she claimed to have been the victim of sexual misconduct. He declined to comment on the story.
“He took out his penis, he got erect,” the friend said, describing the allegations. “And he began to propose to her, as if he touched her thigh and told her that he was going to buy her a horse. And he essentially tried to bribe her to give her some kind of sexual favor. “
The friend said the assistant told him about the misconduct while walking together some time after the trip to London. The friend described the assistant as distressed and visibly shocked. “She was really upset,” the friend said. She didn’t know what to do.
The flight attendant told her friend that the paintings began to dry out after she rejected Musk’s advances. “Before the incident, she thought Mr. Musk was a user to admire,” she said. She came forward to pay her for sex, she was full of anxiety. “
“She thought things could go back to normal and she would pretend nothing had happened,” the friend told Insider. I feel stressed. “
Eventually, he said, the aide felt “expelled and punished for refusing to prostitute herself. “
SpaceX places special emphasis on massages, even employing in-house masseuses as a merit to executives. According to the friend, the flight attendant encouraged through her superiors to buy her own professional education in massage for her sessions with Musk.
“She was encouraged to get a massage therapist license, but at her own pace, on her own,” the friend said. “They hinted that he could fly more if he did because he could do the right massages to Elon. I think it was a little weird because you weren’t hired to be a masseuse. You were hired to be a flight attendant. And if Elon likes massages, then he deserves to pay you to go to massage school. But she was so satisfied and eager to have the task and be able to travel.
In 2018, after being convinced that her refusal to settle for Musk’s proposal had reduced her opportunities at SpaceX, the assistant hired a california hard-working lawyer and sent a complaint to the company’s human resources branch detailing the episode. At that time, the law firm contacted the friend and asked her to prepare the corroboration of the claims.
The worker’s complaint was temporarily resolved following a consultation with a mediator that Musk personally attended. The case never reached a court or arbitration proceeding. In November 2018, Musk, SpaceX and the flight attendant signed a separation agreement that gives the agent a payment of $250,000. in exchange for a promise not to pursue the claims.
The agreement also included confidentiality and non-contempt agreements that prohibited the worker from talking about severance pay or disclosing any information about Musk and his companies, adding SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk recently participated in a takeover bid on Twitter motivated by his stated confidence that “free speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy. “Earlier this month, he wrote on Twitter that “sunlight is the disinfectant. “
Twitter responded to a request for comment.
The friend told Insider to go ahead without consulting the flight attendant because, as a survivor of a sexual assault, she felt compelled to share what she had been told about Musk. confidentiality agreement.
“I sure felt guilty for bringing it up, especially now,” he said. “He is the richest guy in the world. Someone with that point of strength reasons that kind of damage and then throws money at the situation, it’s not responsibility. There are predators all over the world. But when they’re rich and powerful, they literally have systems that are like a device that works for them, so they can do whatever they want. “
Keeping silent, the friend said, would make her an accomplice. “When you decide to remain silent, yes, you are part of that system,” he said. “You’re part of this device that allows someone like Elon Musk to keep doing the terrible things he did. “
Confidentiality agreements are very important elements of this machinery. The friend said that before contacting Insider, she called the attorney representing the victim. The lawyer told her that while she was free to speak to the press, share any documents in the case. —adding your own— can put the flight attendant at risk.
“Her biggest fear was obviously her client,” the friend said. She recalled that the lawyer had said that the confidentiality clauses were and that if other women had been victims of Musk, they deserve to come forward. But as for his client, the lawyer suggested to the friend that he not make a percentage of the statement. “That would be a big deal,” he told the friend.
California, where SpaceX is based, are no longer corporations that require non-disclosure clauses in agreements like the one signed by the employee. Only a few months after its installation in 2018, the then governor. Jerry Brown signed the Stand Against Non-Disclosure Act, which prohibits the use of NDAs in regulations involving sexual harassment, discrimination, or assault unless requested through the plaintiff.
The lawyer responded to requests for comment.
“If there was a way for [her] to get by without putting herself in danger, without putting her life in danger in any way, I think she would,” the assistant’s friend told Insider. “I hope you feel like I did the same thing. ” I hope you feel like I said things you didn’t feel like enough to say. “
This is the only known allegation and agreement of sexual misconduct similar to Musk.
However, two of his companies have faced allegations of sexual harassment in the past. In December 2021, the same week he was named Person of the Year by Time, 4 women who worked at SpaceX reported the sexual harassment they said they faced at the company. , where Musk is the CEO. One, Ashley Kosak, published an essay in which she reported that male workers touched and groped her inappropriately while she was an intern. to the New York Times.
Reacting to the reports, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell sent an email to the entire company saying that “timely reporting of harassment is critical to keeping SpaceX an excellent position to work; we can’t fix what we don’t do. “He added that SpaceX will “rigorously investigate all court cases of harassment or discrimination and take appropriate action when we detect that our policy is being violated. “
And at least six sued Tesla, of which Musk is the CEO, alleging sexual harassment at a Tesla factory. they wear stacks of boxes to obstruct the view of their colleagues. Some of them said they had been subjected to reprisals for coming forward.
The friend told Insider that if Musk mistreats someone else, she expects them to tell their story publicly. If there are other victims, he said, “I would like them to come forward. I would like the fact to be revealed. “
Do you have any information to share about Musk, SpaceX, or their other companies?Contact us at research@insider. com.
Read the article on Business Insider