A lawyer representing the diver who Elon Musk recently accused of being a pedophile said on Wednesday that he sent the Tesla chief a letter that says that he’s preparing to file a libel lawsuit.
The development is the latest twist in the entrepreneur’s turbulent summer on Twitter and comes one day after Musk questioned why the diver hadn’t sued him if his claims were untrue.
“You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me? He was offered free legal services,” asked Musk in reply to @Yoda on Twitter.
Attorney L. Lin Wood, who is representing diver Vernon Unsworth, replied to the thread on Wednesday, saying that Musk “should check his mail before tweeting.”
@elonmusk should check his mail before tweeting. pic.twitter.com/3c9QWtdp25
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) August 29, 2018
Musk originally called Unsworth — a diver that criticized Musk’s attempts to help the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave as a “PR stunt” — a “pedo guy” in July. Musk later apologized for his comment, saying it was “spoken in anger.”
“You published three different tweets to your twenty-two million followers that Mr. Unsworth engages in the sexual exploitation of Thai children, and you did so at a time when he was working to save the lives of twelve Thai children,” Wood said in his letter, dated August 6, to Musk. “You did so without any basis.”
Wood added that he’s prepping a civil libel complaint against Musk.
A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Even without a potential civil suit on his hands, it’s already been a controversial month for 47-year-old entrepreneur. Musk is under the regulatory microscope after bringing Wall Street to a halt earlier this summer, tweeting he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. Musk announced last Friday, after talking to shareholders, to keep Tesla a publicly traded company. Tesla shares have dropped about 20 percent to $305 a share since Musk tweeted about going private.