British rescuer threatens legal action against Elon Musk following 'pedo guy' tweet
If you're the billionaire founder of several publicly traded companies, here's an easy PR strategy: Never tweet. It's not worth it.
Elon Musk may soon learn this lesson the hard way now that a British diver who helped rescue 12 Thai boys from the treacherous depths of a cave threatened Musk with a lawsuit on Monday.
The threat comes only one day after Musk went on a Twitter rant, culminating in the Tesla and SpaceX CEO accusing the British rescuer of being a pedophile in a now-deleted tweet.
The rift between the British diver -- Vern Unsworth -- and Musk started heating up last week after the rescuer said in a television interview that he believed Musk's interest in the cave rescue mission was a "PR stunt."
Unsworth added that Musk's mini-submarine strategy "had absolutely no chance of working" despite the billionaire's claims on Twitter.
In a Twitter rant on Sunday, Musk attacked Unsworth, referring to the rescuer as a "pedo," a slang term used to describe pedophiles.
In the now-deleted tweet, Musk also requested video of the cave rescue, then promised proof that his rescue mission strategy with the miniature submarine would have actually worked:
Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus) at any point when we were in the caves. Only people in sight were the Thai navy/army guys, who were great. Thai navy seals escorted us in — total opposite of wanting us to leave.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2018
You know what, don’t bother showing the video. We will make one of the mini-sub/pod going all the way to Cave 5 no problemo. Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2018
Only a few hours after his series of unhinged tweets, Musk deleted them. But that hasn't been enough to satisfy Unsworth, who had reportedly been working around the clock in Thailand to save the 12 Thai kids and took offense to Musk's self-appointed involvement.
"It's not finished," Unsworth said on Monday in a new interview with 7 News Sydney. When asked if he would consider taking legal action against Elon Musk, Unsworth answered, "Yes."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The BBC reports Unsworth played a key role in the rescue effort, contrary to Elon Musk's claims, and that Unsworth was one of the first people to travel into the caves in the first days after the boys went missing. The British diver reportedly helped recruit top international cave rescue experts for the mission as well.
Musk, who has recently made a habit of arguing with critics on Twitter, has been fiercely defending his involvement in the rescue mission.
Last week, before the boys were successfully retrieved, Thai official Narongsak Osotthanakorn, who was in charge of the rescue mission's command center, said that Musk's miniature submarine was "not practical with our mission" though he thought the submarine was "technologically sophisticated."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Musk responded by saying Mr. Osotthanakorn was "not the subject matter expert." Major news outlets have reported otherwise.
As for how the feud between the British rescuer and Musk ends, it remains to be seen. Unsworth told AFP news that he will make a decision about whether to take legal action against Musk after flying back to the UK this week. Tesla shares fell in the wake of the controversy.
