BuzzFeed alleges that Musk is intimidating one of its reporters

BuzzFeed filed documents in court Friday arguing that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attempt to depose BuzzFeed News reporter Ryan Mac is part of a harassment and intimidation campaign, reports Maxwell Tani of The Daily Beast.

Tani writes, “‘It is clear from Musk’s prior conduct that he would put Mac through the ordeal of a hostile deposition for no reason other than to retaliate against Mac for his critical reporting,’ the filing said. ‘The deposition subpoenas must be quashed to avoid this oppressive outcome.’

“The digital-media company is currently caught up in the high-profile legal spat between Musk and cave diver Vernon Unsworth, who sued Musk for defamation after the eccentric tech executive repeatedly dubbed him a pedophile without evidence.

“In 2018, Musk sent an email to Mac, a BuzzFeed senior reporter, doubling down on his claim that the cave diver—who publicly criticized Musk’s plans to build a miniature submarine to rescue a Thai soccer team—was a pedophile. Mac proceeded to publish the email, infuriating Musk, who claimed it was off-record, and not for publication.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.