Elon Musk apparently hasn’t yet seen Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary, but he sure doesn’t like what he’s hearing.
The nearly four-hour film created quite a stir after premiering Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a five-minute standing ovation.
But the tech mogul’s attorney Alex Spiro sent the production a letter which accuses Gibney of misrepresenting facts about Musk, while Musk himself blasted the film as a “boring … hit piece” on X.
The letter — confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter — focuses on what Spiro says is an insinuation in the film that Musk used his Starlink satellites to somehow influence the 2024 presidential election to boost Donald Trump.
“You are on notice, before release, that the insinuation is false, that the material refuting it is public, and that you chose not to be told the rest,” Spiro wrote Adam Mellion of Jigsaw Productions on Sept. 3.
Musk’s former partner Ashley St. Clair claims in the film that Musk told her before the election that he was going to “unleash the anomaly in the matrix,” and that he has “10,000 lasers in space.”
Spiro notes that “Starlink was not connected to vote tabulation. Election officials in multiple states, independent cybersecurity researchers, and fact-checkers publicly refuted the Starlink vote-rigging claim in November 2024, and nothing since has revived it.” The attorney added, “Defamation does not require an express accusation.”
Musk likewise posted several comments slamming the film on X over the last couple of days: “Gutless Gibney’s fatal flaw of fabricating a false film … Gibney has zero integrity. Zero. Fortunately, his movies are boring af … Gibney just assembled a hit list of people who either have an axe to grind or don’t even know me. Horrible human … It’s a hit piece that misses, and makes the fatal sin of being boring for 4 hours.”
In addition, Spiro criticized the production for “not engaging” with Musk’s team during fact-checking.
“This project did not begin as an inquiry,” Spiro wrote. “It began with a conclusion … Because you have refused to screen the film, refused to fact-check it with us and refused the witnesses who came to you, we have every reason to expect that it contains further statements about Mr Musk that you know to be false, or whose falsity you have deliberately chosen not to investigate … As you know, we have attempted to contact you multiple times and requested an opportunity to present the facts in the normal fact-checking process that is the hallmark of ethical journalism. You have refused to engage.”
Concluded the attorney: “We therefore have no choice but to put you on formal legal notice regarding your upcoming ‘piece’ and to reserve all rights. Our door is open if you decide to check your facts with the people who know them. If not, we will proceed accordingly.”
Jigsaw Productions has issued a statement in response to the letter: “Alex Gibney’s films are consistently recognized for their in-depth, fact-driven explorations of influential figures and corporations, coupled with his bold and engaging directorial style. This approach has garnered him international praise, an Academy Award among other accolades, and a reputation that The Times of London recently lauded as the ‘gold standard for fearless journalistic integrity.’ The right to engage in open debate and fact-based examinations of powerful public figures is protected by the first amendment — something that should be recognized and defended by all Americans, including the associates of Elon Musk, who has proclaimed himself to be a ‘free speech absolutist.’”
Gibney tried to get Musk to participate in the film. In 2023, Musk predicted the film would be a “hit piece,” to which Gibney replied, “How would you know?” As a workaround, Gibney uses an animated avatar to portray Musk, with the avatar quoting statements that Musk has actually said.
In a Hollywood Reporter cover story, Gibney said, “People assume because he’s very rich that he’s not crazy. But the terrifying thing might be that he’s crazy and he’s very rich and powerful. That’s the warning bell the film sounds.”
Musk currently sits at 100 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes among its first 12 reviews. The Hollywood Reporter‘s review called it “a poleaxing portrait of the tech titan as a con man given way too much power to be stopped” that will leave you “simmering in outrage for 225 minutes.”
The tech titan’s pushback might inadvertently help the project, as Musk can rather quickly become “the film Elon doesn’t want you to see.”
The film will be released in select theaters on Friday, Oct. 16.
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