In 2019, billionaire Tesla CEO, Elon Musk was taken to court for alleged defamation against British cave diving hero Vernon Unsworth. Elon Musk said he thought a British cave diving was just "some random creepy guy" when he called him a "pedo" on Twitter.
The public row broke out between the two men over the rescue of 12 boys trapped in a Thai cave in June 2018. Unsworth sued Musk in September 2018, two months after playing a leading role in the rescue of the 12 boys and their soccer coach from the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave.
Musk sent a mini submarine to Thailand, which Vernon labelled a PR stunt, then the billionaire responded by calling him a "pedo guy" on Twitter .
Read more: How Elon Musk made his £200bn fortune before he bought Twitter
Vernon, whose efforts were rewarded with an MBE, launched legal action to sue the Tesla founder for defamation but the jury found in favour of Musk. To get the latest WalesOnline newsletters emailed to you directly for free click here.
Unsworth confessed he felt "humiliated, dirtied and ashamed" after being branded a 'paedo' by Elon Musk.
Mr Musk told the court the phrase "pedo guy" was common in South Africa, where he grew up and in December 2019, a US jury found that Elon Musk did not defame Vernon Unsworth. Mr Unsworth sought $190m (£145m) in damages from Musk, arguing that the tweet damaged his reputation.
The Mirror reports, Speaking on Good Morning Britain in 2019, emotional Vernon said: "He set out to destroy me. Psychologically, I'm a tough guy. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.
"Even some of this stuff that came out of the private instigator's report was disgusting. Even referred to me as a 'sex-pat w****monger'.
"He basically said he thought I was a random guy trying to take the spotlight, not realising I'd been two days off a 17 day rescue so I probably wasn’t looking my best."
"He basically treated it as an insult. Insults are an instant reaction. He went out and researched before he sent those tweets. He tried to research me. 'Suspicious old guy in Thailand - paedo'."
Vernon's lawyer, Mark Stephens, claimed the jury "misunderstood the law" and "misapplied the law to the facts".
He argued that Vernon was identifiable in Musk's tweets even though his name was not mentioned.
