Elon Musk Claims New Documentary Falsely Accuses Him of Manipulating 2024 Election, Threatens Legal Action

Angelique BrenesThu, September 10, 2026 at 3:02 AM UTC

0

Elon Musk during the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025Credit: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty -

Elon Musk’s attorney is threatening legal action over a new documentary about the trillionaire

Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro has written a letter to film director Alex Gibney alleging the film falsely suggests Musk used Starlink to influence the 2024 presidential election, PEOPLE has learned

Musk has previously called the documentary a “hit piece”

Elon Musk’s attorney is threatening legal action over a new documentary about the trillionaire, alleging that the film falsely suggests Musk manipulated the 2024 presidential election.

Attorney Alex Spiro sent director Alex Gibney a letter ahead of the documentary’s release, PEOPLE has learned. In the letter, Spiro says Musk’s legal team repeatedly attempted to contact Gibney and requested an opportunity to respond to the film’s reporting, but alleges that the filmmakers “have refused to engage.”

Spiro also accuses the filmmakers of allegedly approaching the project with a predetermined conclusion about Musk.

“This project did not begin as an inquiry,” Spiro wrote. “It began with a conclusion.”

PEOPLE reached out to Gibney for comment.

Elon Musk arrives for US President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2025.Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty

The letter comes as Musk, Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary about the trillionaire entrepreneur, premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 8. The film is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on Friday, Oct. 16.

It features Ashley St. Clair, Musk’s former partner and a former conservative influencer who has since become a critic of the trillionaire. The two share a son and have been involved in a custody dispute.

In the documentary, St. Clair discusses Musk’s reaction to the November 2024 election, saying he appeared to have a “degree of certainty” that Donald Trump would win that “I had never seen before.”

She recalls Musk allegedly telling her before the election that he was going to “unleash the anomaly in the matrix,” followed by a text from Musk that appears on the screen and reads, “I have ten thousand lasers in space.”

Gibney then asks St. Clair whether she believed Musk was referring to Starlink. “I mean, I don’t know where else he has space lasers,” she responds in the film.

Spiro argued in his letter that the sequence allegedly creates the impression that Musk used Starlink to influence the election.

Advertisement

“The answer to it was available to Mr. Gibney and is not a close one,” Spiro wrote, adding that Starlink “was not connected to vote tabulation.”

The attorney further alleged that the documentary could be defamatory even if it does not directly accuse Musk of manipulating the election.

“Defamation does not require an express accusation,” Spiro wrote, arguing that a false and defamatory meaning can allegedly be conveyed through “juxtaposition, sequencing, narration, scoring, or the omission of known exculpatory facts.”

Elon Musk attends the NCAA Division 1 wrestling national championship finals on March 22nd, 2025Credit: Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Musk has previously criticized the documentary, calling it a “hit piece” on X in March 2023, shortly after the project was announced. Gibney responded at the time, “How would you know?”

While Musk did not participate in the making of the documentary, the film features interviews with his first wife, Justine Musk, his father, Errol Musk, and Tesla co-founder and former CEO Martin Eberhard. Musk married Justine in 2000, and the couple had six children together before separating in 2008. Their first child, son Nevada Alexander, died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) shortly after he was born in 2002.

In the documentary, Justine discusses her marriage to Musk, saying she “learned the term ‘gaslighting’ ” through their relationship. She also recalls Musk telling her during their wedding dance, “I am the alpha in this relationship.”

— sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Beyond the claims about the election, Spiro’s letter alleges that the documentary may contain other statements about Musk that are false or were not adequately investigated. He said the letter serves as notice to everyone involved in releasing or promoting the film, including Gibney, Jigsaw, HBO, Bleecker Street and Universal.

The letter also demands that the filmmakers preserve materials related to the documentary, including footage, interviews, research files, fact-checking records and communications with sources.

“Our door is open if you decide to check your facts with the people who know them. If not, we will proceed accordingly,” Spiro wrote.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”